Return the Darkness
by StarryKirby
Summary: Sequel to Any Dark Deed. A few months later, Sonic has returned home to defeat Mephiles, who is planning to take over. But because of what happened, Sonic is willing do a few dark deeds himself in order to win...rated M for rape and language.
1. Darkness Rising

_**Finally got around to writing the sequel! For newcomers, you'll probably want to read my story "Any Dark Deed" to get the plot. Otherwise, you might be confused. I'll do a quick summary next chapter for those who don't care too (but not right now for those who don't want a major spoiler). **_

_**Anyways, now I'm going to get moving onto this next story. I'm not sure how long it will be…thirty chapters again, I guess. Alright, here we go…**_

Regular typing: Talking or description

_Italic: Thoughts/dreams_

**Bolded: flashbacks **

_**Bolded and Italic: Author notes, except during flashbacks. In that case, the character is thinking**_

"_November…I'll be back then. Are you ready Sonic? Ready to face me again?"_

_Sonic pressed his back against the cold stone wall; his ears folded against his head and his legs slightly shaking. Mephiles took another step forward. _

"_Do you remember what I've done to you? How I've tainted you? How could you forget? After all, it's only been…five months? Still fresh in your mind, eh?" Mephiles chuckled, and Sonic whimpered. His mind was screaming at him to talk back or simply run, but his body wouldn't listen._

_Mephiles came right up to Sonic and slowly stroked the blue hedgehog's cheek, "Oh, pretty little hedgehog…don't be so scared. It's not like you don't know what's going to happen – or that you have anything else to really lose." Sonic shut his eyes and tried not to hear that horrible laugh that still haunted him, even though he hadn't heard it a long while…_

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic opened his eyes and sat up, panting. It was a cool November night, and the first night in a long while his bedroom window was shut. The hedgehog beside him mumbled something and pulled the covers closer, annoyed that their blue lover and heat source had suddenly disappeared.

The sound caused Sonic to look beside him, and he slowly stroked back the hedgehog's quills. The more time that had passed since what had happened, well, happened – the more often the two hedgehogs ended up in Sonic's bed together. Often enough that Tails teased Sonic that he should install a sound-proof shield around Sonic's room so that the fox wouldn't have to hear the two.

Ok, so they were rarely that loud – but with November arriving, Sonic had been getting more nervous, which meant that he often ended up going to his lover for comfort. Silver and Blaze had both agreed that Mephiles would likely come back around this time, and Sonic had returned home only a week ago – yet the two hedgehogs had made love five times already. It helped calm Sonic down, but now his nightmares were returning…

Sonic shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts. He slowly got out of bed and walked downstairs. Silver had ended up staying with Tails, and Sonic could hear Silver's soft breathing through the slightly open bedroom door. Sonic made sure to walk softly as he made his way past the bedroom and outside.

The crisp autumn air had a slight tinge of winter to it and made Sonic's throat sting when he took a deep breath. The cold wind nipped Sonic's nose as the blue hedgehog ran along; the blood going down to his legs instead of his head, so he no longer had to think about his nightmares.

Everything was a blur when Sonic hit a thousand miles an hour – the stars little white blurs, the crescent moon a bigger white blur, and the trees and rocks black blurs of all different shapes and sizes. There was nothing to focus on out here – nothing except moving and not running into stuff, that is.

Around a half hour later, Sonic came back to Tails' house; it was too cold to stay outside any longer. There was no snow yet – but when it came, he'd be with Tails way more often. His love of the outdoors simply wasn't strong enough to make him stay outside all winter.

"I wondered where you went." Sonic looked up to see another hedgehog in the front doorway with a blanket wrapped around them, "I should have guessed you went for a run."

Sonic smiled and walked up to his lover, "I just needed to get some air." He kissed the other hedgehog on the cheek, "We'd better go inside – we're letting all the cold air in."

Sonic's lover laughed softly, "You're the one who needs to stay warm, not the house." The hedgehog draped part of the blanket over Sonic's shoulders, "Come back to bed with me. I miss you when you're not there."

Sonic snorted, "If only because I'm a heating blanket for you."

"Well, there's that…and you also look cute while you sleep. But mainly it's because I love you."

"Yeah, I know…" Sonic let himself be led back the bedroom and cuddled with under the blankets. It was only two in the morning, but somehow seemed a lot later. While the two hedgehogs snuggled together, Sonic's lover got on top of the blue hero and began to kiss him. Sonic wrapped his arms around his lover's waist and kissed them back. The other hedgehog moaned and began to rub Sonic's chest. Sonic knew his lover expected more – but his mind kept going back to his dream that night. It wasn't long before the other hedgehog realized something wasn't right.

"Something up, Sonic? Usually by now you're up for sex." Sonic's lover sat up and placed their legs on either side of Sonic's waist, "What's wrong?"

Sonic sighed, "Sorry, sweetheart…I just dreamed about Mephiles tonight."

"Oh…" The other hedgehog laid down on Sonic's right side, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not sure…doing so just makes us end up having sex."

"Well, it makes you feel better, right?"

"True, but…he'll be coming soon. I'm just…what if he…"

"Sh, sh…" Sonic's lover kissed him on the lips again, "You're making yourself nervous on purpose, Sonic. Don't panic until Mephiles actually returns."

Sonic snorted, "Isn't that wonderful advice?"

"Alright, alright. But seriously now…what did you dream about? Did Mephiles –"

The blue hedgehog cut the other off, "No, no, nothing too graphic…he was just talking with me again; telling me that he was coming and reminding me…"

Sonic trailed off, and his eyes began to sting. He could feel a dull ache in his chest and backside, and he felt like he was going to throw up. Every time he thought about what Mephiles had done to him in May and June, he always started feeling sick. His therapist said it was a natural reaction to the memories, but still…

"Sonic, don't! No more thinking about that stuff! Come here." Sonic let himself be pulled to his lover's chest, "I know it hurts you, but it's ok. It's over."

"I didn't defeat Mephiles for good," Sonic whispered, "He's still out there…and he can still hurt me."

"No, he can't. You're safe…it's ok now. I love you."

Sonic sighed, "I'm surprised you love me…after all, I was used before you got me."

"You weren't really 'used'. So Mephiles did some crazy shit to take away your virginity – but I got the real deal. If Mephiles had taken the time to really make love to you, he'd have found out you're quite lively in bed – and he'd have been with a real angel."

"Shut up," Sonic replied, and he lightly slapped his lover's shoulder.

The other hedgehog laughed, "It's true! I feel like I'm in heaven with you."

"And you make me feel like an angel every day."

"You're so sweet…" Sonic was pulled closer to his lover and kissed, "But it's late…we should get some sleep. And you have your therapy session tomorrow."

"Oh yeah…I guess I can ask Dr. Nam about the dream."

"Honestly, I don't think it requires a psychiatrist to tell you that you're dreaming about Mephiles because he'll be coming back soon so you're focusing on him."

"You're probably right…still, he can help me get over it…" Sonic rolled over, "It'll be morning soon…'night."

"Goodnight, Sonic."

Sonic closed his eyes, but simply wasn't tired. In a few minutes his lover's breathing became deep and slow, soft under Sonic's rapid breaths.

Sonic rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling, _"I wonder when Mephiles will come back…maybe tomorrow, two days, a week? I just wish I had an exact date…or that I knew what he was up to. Either one would be nice…well, there's no point in wondering. I'll find out soon enough…"_

Despite his best efforts to calm himself down, Sonic tossed and turned until dawn.

XXXXXXXXX

"_I should have taken better note of this place before. I have no idea where to set everything up…"_ Mephiles walked along the top of a cliff, staring down at the forest below. He had been looking for a good two days now, and still wasn't satisfied.

"It's got to be somewhere close so I can keep watch on that blue hedgehog, but far enough away so it stays hidden…" Mephiles stopped in his tracks and kneeled at the edge of the cliff. About halfway down, which was a good two hundred foot drop, part of the cliff jutted out, forming a small shelf. It was the perfect place to start digging.

Mephiles grinned, and then slowly floated down. After inspecting the rock wall, he nodded and began preparations to make himself a base.

XXXXXXXXX

"You're tired this morning…wake up, Sonic!" Tails lightly hit Sonic on the head. Sonic said something muffled and then let his head rest on his arms. Sonic barely slept half the night, and trying to eat breakfast, let alone move, was proving to be a challenge today.

"By the way, there's frost outside. Everything's covered in it," Tails said after about a minute, breaking the silence between the two friends.

"That's nice," Sonic replied sleepily.

"The weather report says it's going to snow tonight."

"Wonderful."

"They say it's going to be nuclear snow and it will kill everything it comes in contact with."

"Fantastic."

"The sun will go out. The world will be plunged into complete darkness. We'll all die a long and terrible death."

"Yippee."

Tails rolled his eyes, "Your lover is planning a secret surprise for you tonight and told me all about it."

"Really?" Sonic looked up at Tails, "What is it?"

"So you were paying attention after all…" Tails turned back to the stove.

Sonic frowned and was about to question the fox further, but Silver walked into the kitchen yawning, "Morning." He looked at Sonic, and then at Tails. "What's with him?" Silver asked, pointing at the blue hedgehog.

"Tired," Sonic mumbled, staring at a glass of milk in front of him. He lay down on his arms again.

"Why so sleepy? I thought sex didn't tire you out this much," Silver said, placing a slice of bread in the toaster, "By the way, where is your lover?"

Sonic moaned and sat up, "Stop teasing me! And my lover," Sonic glared at Silver with bloodshot eyes, "Left early this morning. I was asleep, so I don't know why."

"You were asleep? You look like you were up for days," Silver replied, sitting across from the blue hedgehog.

Sonic sighed, "Nightmares. They're coming back…" Sonic finally managed to eat a bite of cereal, "Kept me up all night."

Tails turned around and looked at Sonic, "I thought you stopped dreaming about…well…"

"It's not about that…it's just Mephiles mocking me. That guy still freaks me out." Sonic shivered, "Just thinking about him makes me feel sick."

"So stop thinking about him! You're not helping yourself here." Tails joined the two hedgehogs at the table, "Your appointment isn't until three. You've got the whole morning to distract yourself."

"Cool…maybe then I can catch up on my sleep." Sonic yawned and closed his eyes.

"Shall I carry you over to the couch?" Silver asked.

"Maybe…" Sonic mumbled, his head falling forward onto the table and narrowly missing landing in his breakfast.

Silver and Tails exchanged glances. "Um, maybe you should go back to bed now…" Tails said slowly, staring at Sonic.

The blue hedgehog gave Tails a thumbs-up before letting his hand drop back to his side.

Silver sighed and whispered softly so only Tails could hear, "We'd better hope that Mephiles doesn't come today. Sonic isn't going to be any help right now."

"No kidding…" Tails looked over at Sonic, and shook his head when he realized the blue hero was now fast asleep.

_**I'm going to end it right here, for now. For those who are wondering why I never said who Sonic's lover is – well, it's either Amy or Shadow. I'll reveal it at some point…**_


	2. The Eye

_**Ok, for you people who didn't feel like reading "Any Dark Deed", here's a summary of the story:**_

_**The story takes place in Smash Brothers, in the Smasher's World, and when Sonic was there in May Wario rapes him for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Wario puts a cuff on Sonic's ankle, taking away all of his powers and making him unable to fight back, and Wario says he'll make it permanent if Sonic tells someone about the abuse or refuses to continue to submit. Sonic cannot imagine living without his super speed forever, and once he finds out the cuff is invisible to everyone except Wario and himself – meaning it cannot be removed in any other way – he agrees. A group of Brawlers starts investigating Sonic's problem – but when they start getting too close to the truth Wario hurts Sonic so badly that Sonic tries to commit suicide. After barely stopping himself from dying, Sonic leaves the Smasher's Base and returns home in order to get away. Eventually he tells Knuckles what happened and finally starts to heal. Later it is revealed that this wasn't Wario's fault at all – he was being mind controlled by Tabuu and Mephiles to get revenge on Sonic. The entire group comes together and goes after the two villains, defeating them – but not permanently. While Tabuu is satisfied by the outcome, Mephiles isn't – and has returned to try and take down Sonic again. **_

_**That's what you get for not reading the other story. A huge chunk of words! I left out quite a few details, but if I wrote the entire thing it'd take half the chapter. And as well; I do not own anything in this story, whether is be characters or products, except for the cuff, the plot and Isis, who's introduced here. They're my creation, so no stealing! Anyways, I'll shut up now and continue with the story:**_

"Sonic, it's time to go…wake up!" Silver shook the blue hedgehog's side, and Sonic yawned and blinked sleepily. "Tails is waiting outside. Get going!"

Sonic yawned again, then slowly stood up and said, "What?"

"Appointment, Sonic. Remember?"

Sonic blinked the last bits of sleep away, "Oh yeah! I'd better go! See you later, Silver!"

"Perhaps you should sleep during the night instead of the day," Tails sighed as Sonic hopped onto the wing of the plane.

"I just didn't have a nightmare this time! I don't always dream about Mephiles…"

"I know, I know…let's go." Tails abruptly ended the conversation right then and focused on flying.

It was quiet for a few minutes, and then Sonic said, "You know, Tails, ever since Mephiles, well, you know…you've gotten stronger."

"Huh?"

"I'm just saying that you never gave up on me and you showed a lot of strength; you even had the guts to hit Mephiles…I'd have panicked and ran away from him. You've changed."

"We both have," Tails replied. Sonic just had never seen the fox late at night during those first few days when Sonic came home; when he nearly cried over how Sonic was treating him and refusing to tell him what was going on. It still hurt Tails to think about what had happened to his brother. And he really wasn't that brave; he lashed out at Mephiles because he was caught up in the moment more than anything else. No, he was quite understanding and always willing to help, but he wasn't up for major fighting. That's what Sonic was about.

Once the two were high enough, Tails pushed the pendant into its slot on the control panel. There was one pendant which was used for going to the Smasher's Base; this one was for teleporting to where Dr. Nam, Sonic's therapist was.

There was a bright flash, and suddenly the two were flying in a major thunderstorm, on a different planet.

"Ack!" Sonic scrambled into the seat behind Tails, "I wasn't expecting that!"

"Sorry," Tails replied, and he hit a button. A glass dome rose up and covered the two seats, shielding the two friends from the elements, "I should have checked the weather report first."

"It's cool," Sonic said, shaking the water from his quills, "As long as we don't crash."

"We won't," Tails replied, and a huge streak of lightning suddenly appeared a few meters away from them, "Ok, at least we shouldn't…I'll fly a bit lower and try to land as soon as possible."

Sonic buckled up his seatbelt and then watched as Tails carefully guided the plane through the clouds. In a few minutes the two were flying over a foreign city, although by now quite familiar to the pair.

"That looks like the school…ok, so we shouldn't be much farther than a block from Dr. Nam's place." Tails tried to see through the gloom, "Damn it, I can't tell if there are any cars down there…think it's ok for me to land?"

"Should be," Sonic replied, shrugging, "Dr. Nam never books anything around my appointments. He understands why I don't want anybody to know…"

XXXXXXXXX

Tails looked at the calendar, at the month of December. The picture at the top was a pretty winter forest scene, with two reindeer rubbing each other. The weeks underneath had a couple of times written on it already, even though November had barely begun.

"Take your time, Tails. There's no rush." Dr. Nam's secretary, who said to just call her Rose, looked up at the fox. She was the only one, other than Dr. Nam, who was outside of Sonic's group of friends and knew what had happened to the blue hedgehog. Of course, she knew her job and had never told a soul about what happened.

"Um…" Tails looked at the calendar again, "December fifteenth looks good."

"Alright," Rose replied, and she took the calendar from the fox. She then grabbed a blue pen and wrote down Sonic's name in her fine writing in another book, "Three in the afternoon again?"

Tails nodded, and Rose wrote down the time underneath Sonic's name and on the calendar, "So he's booked. Based on how Sonic's doing, the sessions might only take place every three months now, instead of every month." Rose wrote down the appointment time on a blue notepad, ripped off the paper and handed it to Tails, "It's always nice to see a client get better."

"No kidding…thanks, Rose. I'd better check on Sonic now…" Dr. Nam had set up his practice in a house on the second floor. While the house was old on the outside, the inside was quite modern, with shining hardwood floors and was brightly lit. The first room was the main office, with a black marble countertop and a few small plants, going with the spring green walls. A small fountain continually bubbled in the corner, the only sound other than the ticking clock at the moment. Through an archway and around a corner, across from the desk was the waiting room, with black leather couches and a TV and toys to keep kids amused while they waited. There was one other room, and it was the only room that had a door; that was where Dr. Nam met with his patients, although Sonic wasn't in there now.

Tails went through the archway and saw Sonic sitting at the kids' table, doing a jigsaw puzzle. He looked up when Tails entered and asked, "So when am I coming back?"

"Middle of December. That should be a good time." The unspoken sentence hung between the two, 'By then, Mephiles should hopefully be gone.'

Sonic nodded, and then looked back at the puzzle. He picked up a piece and snapped it into place, giving the Stegosaurus a head, "I wonder what's taking Dr. Nam so long. Usually he's ready to see me by now."

Tails shrugged and sat down by Sonic. He looked at the piece the hedgehog was holding, and then pointed to a spot, "It goes there."

Sonic winked at Tails, and then gave a palm tree a leaf, "Feel free to help, you know." Tails picked up a piece of sky and added it to the picture. The two friends worked quietly away at the puzzle for a while, and then both looked up when the heard the door open, although because they were around a corner neither could see what was going on.

"Don't worry, Miss Bogges; I'm sure it was just a coincidence. Your brother's death had nothing to do with the girl." That was Dr. Nam's voice, no doubt.

There was a huge sob, and then a woman spoke, "It's just that…oh, my brother!" The woman started to cry again, "I'll get that wretched girl if it's the last thing I do!"

"Don't…just let it go. There's nothing you can do that will bring Virgil back. Let it go."

The woman sighed, "Perhaps I could stay a bit longer? I need to talk more…"

"Sorry Betty, but I have another client right now. Feel free to book another appointment tomorrow, though."

"Yes, yes, I will." Tails and Sonic kept their eyes on the archway, although neither of them made a move to go see what was going on.

After a few moments, the sound of feet in high heels moved towards the stairs and walked down, and Dr. Nam looked around the corner, "Sonic?"

"Right here," Sonic said, standing up, "What was going on there? You said you wouldn't…"

Dr. Nam shook his head, "I know; I promised I wouldn't have any appointments around yours, for publicity sake. But this one was an emergency, and this was the only time available all week."

Sonic sighed, "Well…ok…"

"Don't worry about it." Dr. Nam looked at Tails, "Are you staying here for the hour, then?"

Tails sighed, "I was hoping on walking around the city for a bit, but…"

"You can take my umbrella if you want. It's hanging up on the coat hanger; the black one." Dr. Nam led the two back into the main foyer, "Ready, Sonic?"

"Yep." Sonic looked at Tails as the fox grabbed the umbrella, "Are you going to take a while?"

Tails shook his head, "Nope. I'll be back in an hour to fly you home." He waved goodbye to Sonic as he walked down the stairs, surrounded by walls so it felt like you were in a secret stairwell. Tails went outside into the rain, put the umbrella up and started out on a walk.

XXXXXXXXX

"So how have you been doing lately, Sonic?" Dr. Nam looked at the blue hedgehog seated across from him on a black leather couch, "Has Mephiles returned yet?"

"Nope, and I'm glad for that." Sonic rested his cheek in the palm of his hand, and watched as his psychiatrist wrote something down. It was strange; in June he had seen Dr. Nam every day, then for a long while only once a week. Now for October and November he had only seen Dr. Nam once a month. It seemed odd not to talk about what had happened in detail often.

"Let's get right to the point. Did you have any dreams of Mephiles at all recently?"

"Yes…" Sonic sighed, "For the past few days, ever since I've returned home, Mephiles has been talking to me in my dreams, taunting me…"

"No rapes?"

Sonic winced, "No, not that."

"At least that's major progress." Dr. Nam leaned slightly forward, "Describe one of the dreams for me, please."

Sonic took a deep breath and started to speak, "I'm always in this castle courtyard, except this castle isn't on the ground – it's floating above a dark purple ocean. So the courtyard ground is all cobblestones. Anyways, I look up at the dark purple clouds in the sky – big, puffy ones, storm clouds – and then I hear a voice say, 'Hello, Sonic.' I turn around, and then there's Mephiles. He starts to walk towards me, and I back away, scared. He talks about what he's done to me, and he describes it and everything, and eventually he backs me against one of the castle walls and I'm so scared I can't move and he's laughing and reaches out to touch me and then…I wake up."

"That's it every time?"

"Yep, the exact same dream…except what he describes changes, but it's all what he's done to me. No fakes."

"Hmm…" Dr. Nam sat up, thinking, and then said, "This is progress, but I'm wondering about this castle. Do you dislike the color purple?"

"No, it's fine with me. Why? And what do you mean by 'progress'?"

"You're showing progress because you're no longer focusing on the sexual side of your memories – you've moved to simply Mephiles. As for the color purple…well, rarely do people remember the color of the sky or water in their dreams. As well, how do you know the ocean is purple? Are there windows in the castle?"

Sonic thought for a moment, "There aren't any windows…I don't know how I know. I just know."

"Exactly…the color purple must have some significance. Anyways, you're still scared of Mephiles, Sonic. You're backing away from him in your dreams – that isn't good if Mephiles is planning to return."

"I know…"

"I'm not saying that you should suddenly be ok with seeing him again; but if you panic then you won't be able to defeat him." Dr. Nam saw that Sonic was still listening, so he continued, "I know it was hard for you, but you're strong. And don't forget – you did bite Mephiles' penis right off. It's hard to rape someone without that organ."

Sonic shuddered, "Please don't talk about that again! I don't want to remember…"

Dr. Nam covered his mouth with his hand, "Oops…sorry Sonic; I forgot you hate having me mention that. Shall we go onto something else?"

"Please."

"Alright…we might as well get this part over with…how's your sex life been, Sonic?" Dr. Nam couldn't help but laugh as Sonic's cheeks became a bright pink.

XXXXXXXXX

Tails had been walking this way for some time, not caring where he was going. He rarely looked up from the ground below – he only glanced up at his watch to make sure he'd have time to go back. He just flew over the streets, not bothering to wait for the lights to change.

It was three thirty-five now. Since Sonic's session had started a little late, Tails could walk for about another ten to fifteen minutes and then turn around and make it back without rushing. Every time Tails had brought Sonic here, he walked for the hour, thinking – about Sonic, Mephiles…and Sonic's relationships. Even though Sonic was only seventeen now, the way the two hedgehogs acted together made Tails think that at some point they'd get married. Tails chuckled at the idea of Sonic having children. If people thought a regular baby was hard to take care of, try one with super speed!

A loud shout made Tails look up, and then the fox realized he wasn't exactly on the best side of town. While before he was walking in a quiet neighborhood; now he had suddenly appeared in a dingy street, because only a few streetlights were working. Even though it was the middle of the day, the street seemed as dark as night. Apartment buildings rose on either side of Tails, looming huge and threatening. Every one needed to be repaired.

While normally Tails would have turned around and walked away, for some reason he was compelled to walk further. Shouting was coming from a smaller building in the middle of the block; a bar, by the looks of it. It was the only building lit up on the block, and the only one with two stories. As well, there was a huge crowd outside, trying to get in.

Noticing the rain had stopped Tails folded the umbrella and tucked it under his arm. He walked towards the bar, wondering what was going on. There was a bouncer guarding the entrance, pushing people back, but when he saw the two-tailed fox come closer his eyes widened and he let Tails pass. He didn't even bother to ask Tails his age, even though the fox was only ten and shouldn't be allowed anywhere near alcohol. Then again, neither should Sonic, and the hedgehog had gotten drunk on more than one occasion.

Tails took a deep breath and squeezed pass the bouncer, feeling this strange urge to find someone, although he wasn't sure who he was looking for. The bar was crammed full of people, but it was a strange place – an old-fashioned tavern. The bar itself was wood, the tables all looked like tree stumps, and even the lights looked like candles. It was a very odd place.

Everybody was facing towards the center of the room, talking loudly and yelling when something occurred. Some were shaking their heads, while others were digging in their pockets for more cash. Tails wished to know what was going on, so he pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

In the instant he saw her, Tails knew she was important, and that somehow she had called for him to come. Then the feeling disappeared, and Tails was left wondering what the hell he was doing. He blinked and studied the girl.

There was no possible way she was drinking age – she looked no older than fourteen. She had thick black hair with blood red streaks, and bright lavender colored eyes. Her skin was pale and smooth, and every part of her body was perfect without a single blemish. She was wearing an amethyst colored cloak, pinned at her throat with an amethyst eye pin. She was wearing black, all tucked tightly to her body, more to keep it from getting in the way than to enhance her curves. There was something about her eyes – and her eye pin – that made you realize that she wasn't somebody to mess with. Her muscles rippling under her clothing when she shifted position showed that she was a warrior. Tails even thought he saw the handle of a dagger tied to her hip.

"Come now, who wants to give it a try? A chance of a lifetime, folks. Step right up." The girl seemed at complete ease saying the words, and then Tails noticed what was on the table. It was a wheel – one of those prize wheels on game shows that you spun and hopefully ended up with something good. It was pretty small – no bigger than a foot high – but everyone was completely focused on it.

The girl's lavender eyes focused on Tails, and he froze under her gaze, "You know the rules people, but I shall explain again for newcomers. This is a very special wheel that has high stakes, so if you have nothing to lose, give it a go. For you see –" The girl pointed to a few pictures, "If you land on most of the spaces, something terrible will happen to you. You could be robbed, raped…even murdered." A murmur went through the crowd, "I know you're asking yourself, 'So why would I try?' For the grand prize, folks. For if you land on this space," she pointed to a picture of an eye on it, looking exactly like her crystal pin, "You can end up with super powers – powers beyond your imagination."

The crowd began to get excited again, and Tails shook his head. That space was tiny compared to the others – even though there were a few other good ones, the chance of getting the eye was nothing. You'd have to be a fool to give the wheel a spin.

So why was he so tempted to do it?

"Is this a joke?" someone called out.

The girl laughed, "No joke, pal. You know Virgil Bogges, the guy who was killed a few days ago?" Everyone nodded. "Well you see he spun 'death' on my wheel. The wheel is always right. I never go back on my word – if you land on the thousand bucks, I give you the thousand bucks. If you land on scammed, you can bet you will be scammed." The girl looked around at the crowd, "Now, the more you bet, the bigger the eye picture gets. Land on it and you'll end up with extraordinary powers – but only one person may get it. So come on – who's up for a challenge?"

A huge man pushed his way through the crowd, "I bet a hundred bucks." He threw a wad of bills on the table.

The girl nodded, and the eye picture grew slightly bigger. Just as she was about to say something more, the bartender shouted, "Hold on, now. I don't want any deaths and black magic going around in my bar, you hear girl?"

"Of course," the girl replied, "And by the way, the name is Isis. Now folks, it's time for the moment of truth." In a whispery voice she recited,

"Fair is foul and foul is fair;

Do you wish to take the dare?

Power lies hidden inside us all

But most who try to achieve it shall fall.

A wheel of chance; spin it and perhaps, possibly

All of the strength inside you will be set free.

You'll be able to gain treasures untold

If you're lucky, strong and bold.

Be cautious about the price; I take money, but you see

The wheel may take your blood as the fee."

The man spun the wheel, and everyone stared, wondering what was going to happen. Eventually, the arrow stopped on 'five hundred'.

"Five hundred dollars it is," Isis said, and she counted out the money and handed it over. The man smiled, and waved his prize in the air.

Now everyone was up for the wheel, and many people span – and each time, Isis recited the eerie rhyme. Some people remarked that a few lines sounded oddly familiar, and when Isis was told this she just laughed and replied, "Who's to say the witches didn't give me this wheel themselves?" Most people thought she was just joking, and continued to play her game. However, most ended up with bad luck, but they shrugged it off like it was nothing. A wheel couldn't make them lose their job or make their spouse cheat on them – could it?

Tails sat on a table and watched for some time, and with each turn of the wheel he had a stronger urge to spin himself. He fingered the seven dollars in his glove, which was meant for a quick snack – but now he wanted to use it on the wheel.

"Nobody has gotten the eye yet. Only one person can get it – after that, I'm gone." Isis looked at Tails again, "Who will be the lucky one?"

Before Tails realized what he was doing, he hopped off the table and walked over, "I'll go with seven dollars." He handed his money over.

The crowd shook their heads; some people had bet thousands and still didn't get the eye. How could someone with seven bucks possibly get it? Isis smiled, recited the rhyme, and then gestured to the wheel.

Tails reached forward, grasped the edge of the wooden wheel, and pulled down. The pictures blurred together in a rainbow of colors. Around and around it went, and the crowd was watching intently like the other spins. Tails closed his eyes; afraid of looking to see what he got. He didn't realize until now what he had just done – Virgil must have been Betty's brother, and the girl…what if he landed on 'death' too? Would he die? How would Sonic handle that, still recovering from being raped? Why did he do this? He was so stupid!

Tails could still hear the wheel going around…he didn't want to be robbed, have his house burnt down, anything. If Sonic nearly killed himself after being repeatedly raped, he was going to be a total wreck afterwards if Tails died. And what if _he_ was raped and it was done by someone he knew – what if Mephiles made Sonic rape him? That monster had mind-controlled Wario; couldn't he do the same to Sonic?

"_Well, it's too late now…I just hope it's something alright."_ Tails heard the wheel slow down and come to a stop, and then the crowd roared. He slowly opened his eyes and stared in shock.

The arrow had landed on the eye.

Isis stood up and slowly clapped her hands, "Good work, my friend. You certainly are a powerful one." She picked up the wheel and tucked it under her arm, "I'll be seeing you soon." With that, she walked away with the wheel in one hand and a sack of money in the other.

Tails stood completely still for a moment, wondering what she meant. He had completely blanked out the world around him. She said he was powerful…was he really going to get super powers? No, that wasn't possible. This was stupid. Tails shook his head to clear his mind, and then looked at his watch and gasped. He was going to be late picking up Sonic if he didn't hurry.

_**I was going to write more, but then it turned out to be way, way too long. So you'll have to wait until next week! **_


	3. Violet Flames

"What took you so long?" Sonic asked as Tails reached the top of the stairs. Tails quickly threw the umbrella back onto the coat rack and looked around.

"Where's Dr. Nam? Is he busy?"

Sonic gave Tails a confused look, "He's still in his office…why?"

"I need to talk with him," Tails panted, and he moved past Sonic and went inside. Sonic, wondering what his friend was up to, followed.

Dr. Nam looked up from his computer as the fox entered, "Hey Tails, can I help you?"

"What happened to Virgil? How did he die?" Tails asked.

"How did you…? Right…Tails, you know I cannot tell you anything about my other clients. Why does it matter to you?" Dr. Nam took a better look at the fox, "You seem out of breath, Tails. Did you run all the way back here?"

"Sure did. At top speed." Tails took a deep breath, "Dr. Nam, I ended up in strange place and there was this girl with a wheel and she mentioned that it killed Virgil and –"

Dr. Nam's eyes went wide, "Whoa, whoa; slow down! How did this…" Dr. Nam stood up and shut the door, "I need to you tell me everything you know."

Sonic looked back and forth between his best friend and his therapist, "Ok, what's going on?"

"I'll explain in a moment," Dr. Nam replied, sitting back down in his chair, "Please Tails; tell me everything you know."

Tails slumped against the couch and repeated his adventure; minus himself spinning the wheel. Dr. Nam listened intently and shook his head sadly at the end of the tale, "Oh dear…I'm afraid there may be a few more disasters happening now."

"Why? What's the big deal? This wheel really isn't dangerous…is it?" Sonic asked.

"Most people don't think so…but I'm beginning to think otherwise." Dr. Nam stood up and began pacing, "A few weeks ago, a young man was murdered, and his brother said the pair had met a young girl the night before, and invited them to spin a prize wheel for the chance to gain super powers. One of the boys span, but landed on death. She then suddenly disappeared into the night, and the next morning the brother was dead."

"A coincidence, perhaps?" Tails asked.

"Most people thought so…but then other things started happening; fires, robberies, scandals…and the victims all said something about a girl and a wheel."

"Isis…she said her name was Isis…" Tails mumbled.

"Isis? Could be a fake name…but still…" Dr. Nam sat down again, deep in thought, "She could be dangerous, Tails. It's possible that she murdered those people herself, started the fires and robbed those stores."

"She couldn't make two people break up though," Sonic said, shrugging.

"That's unlikely, but I wouldn't put it past her. Tails, be careful…you should trust your instincts on this one. If you felt like she wanted you, be sure to stay far away from her."

"Don't worry, doc. I'll protect my little brother." Sonic wrapped an arm around Tails, "Right, buddy?"

"Of course," Tails replied, although he didn't feel at all reassured.

"Watch your back, Tails. Who knows what she really wants…" Dr. Nam turned back to his computer, "I'll see you in December, Sonic. Other than that, good luck to both of you!"

XXXXXXXXX

"Did you think of spinning the wheel, Tails?" Sonic asked, looking over the seat back. They had spoken of other things on the way home, but now Sonic remembered what he wanted to ask his friend. Tails mumbled something that Sonic didn't catch, "What was that?"

"I thought of it, but I knew the chance of me getting something good was so small I didn't. Why?"

"I'd be freaked out if you did! I don't want anything else to deal with at this point…" _"A purple eye, a purple sky…Dr. Nam thinks that purple may be important to me. What if Isis is working with Mephiles?"_

"Don't worry, I didn't. It's cool." Tails was getting ready to land the plane back home, and he thought to himself, _"Ok, so I spun and I landed on the eye. That doesn't mean I'll get super powers, right? She couldn't possibly do that…right? Oh forget it; I'm not convincing myself at all."_

Sonic jumped out of the plane as soon as Tails landed, "It's four thirty now and I'm starving! Supper time, perhaps?"

Tails laughed, "Are you expecting me to cook you something?"

Sonic whirled around and asked, "Please?" in a cute little voice.

"Actually, someone else is planning dinner with you…" It didn't take long for Sonic to get the hint.

"I see…so you'll be leaving us alone, then?"

"Silver and I promised we'd stay out of the house for a while. He's going to stay overnight with Blaze, and I'm going to work on a new idea of mine…"

"Oh! What is it?" Sonic asked.

"I'll tell you later. You have a date tonight." Sonic chuckled and dashed inside, while Tails headed to his workshop from the outside door.

XXXXXXXXX

Hours had passed, and Tails had decided to take a break just before nine. He had promised he wouldn't go upstairs, so he'd placed a sandwich in the fridge and snacked on that. He continued to eat while drawing, pushing the crumbs off of the paper when he moved his hand downwards to draw.

"_Let's see…if I move the power cell from here to here…"_ Tails circled one part of the drawing and drew an arrow to another point, _"I should be able to fit the backup engine starter right behind the fuel tank…"_

Tails felt a strange energy pass through his body, making him drop his sandwich and look up in shock, "What was that?"

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic flinched when he felt a hand worm its way underneath him and grab his backside, but was immediately was pulled back into the kiss so he didn't say anything. The blue hedgehog moved his hands up and began to rub his partner's back. His hips were starting to ache a little from having his lover sit on top of them for so long, but because Sonic was so happy he simply didn't care. No one else could make him feel like this…

A bright purple flash took Sonic's attention, and he broke off the kiss to look towards the living room window, "What was that?"

Sonic's lover got off of the blue hedgehog and walked towards the window, pulling back the curtains slightly to look outside. A strange purple light filled the room, "I don't see anything…" The hedgehog turned back to the couch, "What about you…Sonic? Sonic!"

Sonic's eyes had become glossy and he simply stared at the light. The light, for some reason, had triggered a memory Sonic had tried so hard to put away in his brain. For a long while, he succeeded, but now it was all coming back…

XXXXXXXXX

_Sonic tried desperately to open the door. He pounded away at it and turned the knob, but it was no use. It was locked, just like all of the other times. He took a deep breath and turned around. Mephiles was still recovering from that nasty blow Sonic gave him, even without super powers, so he hadn't come after Sonic yet. And when he did…_

_The blue hedgehog knew calling for help was futile; the cuff's sound shield prevented that from being possible. He couldn't break down the door; couldn't bust open the window…but then there was no way out. Sonic couldn't help but sink to his knees. He didn't want to degrade himself any further than he already had; what with performing oral sex on Mephiles and calling himself filthy names. But getting on his hands and knees while Mephiles humped him? No…this couldn't happen to him. It just couldn't!_

_But then again, it was the exact same thought that had run through his mind that first night not too long ago when Mephiles raped him. He didn't think it could ever happen to him…and yet…_

"_Fucking hedgehog," Mephiles cursed, grabbing one of Sonic's head quills. He pulled the struggling Sonic back to the foot of the bed and threw him against it, "You heard me, Sonic. On your hands on knees!"_

"_No! I won't! Never!" Sonic sat up, and immediately Mephiles knocked him back down._

"_Don't forget who holds all of the cards here, Sonic. If you refuse this, then you lose your super powers for good." Seeing Sonic hesitate, Mephiles continued, "Imagine; waking up tomorrow and knowing you'll never run so fast again. You'll be just like every other simpleton – boring, slow and weak. You'll have to go to high school so you can get a job – oh, wouldn't that be fun…"_

"_But…but I can't…" Sonic shuddered, "Please, Mephiles…"_

"_No," Mephiles snarled, "Either you get on your hands and knees or you lose your powers. Your choice."_

_Sonic's ears flattened against his head, and he slowly sat up, turned around, and went onto his hands and knees, having his right side face the bed and bowing his head to show Mephiles that he would submit._

"_Good boy, Sonic. Very good…" Mephiles walked in front of the blue hedgehog, grabbed one of Sonic's quills to force the blue hedgehog's head up and shoved his erection against Sonic's lips, "You know what to do."_

_Sonic slowly opened his mouth, and Mephiles thrust inside. Sonic nearly choked because Mephiles was going so fast from the start, but he managed to concentrate on his breathing which kept him calm. Mephiles grabbed Sonic's quills after a few minutes and pulled the blue hedgehog forward, telling Sonic that it was time for him to contribute to Mephiles' pleasure. When Mephiles thrust forward again, Sonic licked and sucked on the organ, knowing failure to do so would mean greater pain later on._

"_Atta boy, Sonic. Just a little more…" Sonic continued to nibble and pull at the disgusting thing in his mouth, resisting the urge to bite down as hard as he could. He started to taste a few drops of semen and tried to move his tongue away, but suddenly Mephiles' semen filled Sonic's mouth with no warning. Coughing, the blue hedgehog managed to choke it down, so he received no slap as punishment._

"_That's right Sonic; eat it all up…" Sonic licked his lips, showing Mephiles he was done, and then Mephiles pinched Sonic's lips, making him open up. Mephiles placed his crotch right against Sonic's face and the blue hedgehog whimpered, knowing what he had to do. In a few minutes Sonic had finished lapping at Mephiles' organ, making it become erected again. Every single instinct told Sonic to run when Mephiles walked behind him; yet Sonic knew that nothing he could possibly do would get him out of here unharmed._

_Mephiles wanted sex, and he was going to have sex._

_Sonic's tormenter took a firm hold of the blue hedgehog's hips and lined up with Sonic's entrance; only touching enough so Sonic knew that he was there. Mephiles wasn't going to hold back on Sonic; the blue hedgehog deserved it anyways. "Ready, you slut?" Mephiles hissed._

"_Ready," Sonic whimpered, already knowing how much it was going to hurt. _

_The first thrust was always the worst, and Sonic cried out at the pain. Mephiles didn't care what he was doing to the hedgehog beneath him; it was all about his pleasure. He thrust harder and faster, trying to slam deeper into Sonic's body, ripping the tissues inside and causing Sonic so much pain. It wasn't long before blood ran down Sonic's legs, dripping onto the carpet and staining it with little red pools._

_Sonic took huge breaths of air and gripped the carpet with his hands, trying to keep himself from screaming and crying. Tears were pooling up behind his eyes, but he wouldn't let them spill. Not in front of Mephiles at least, if they had to come at all. _

_Mephiles moved his hands from Sonic's hips to his head quills, and with each thrust he yanked back, jerking Sonic's head up and causing him to yelp. Eventually Sonic got used to the new position so he widened his stance, trying to take some of the pressure from his backside._

_For some time the two hedgehogs stayed like that; one thrusting inside the other, while the one on the bottom pleaded that the torture would end soon. Every single day he went through this…if it wasn't for that cuff, he'd tell everyone. Why did he have to keep it a secret? Every part of him hurt – his backside, head, heart…_

_Eventually Mephiles came inside of Sonic's aching body, and even through all of the blood Sonic could feel the hot semen inside of him. That part was always worst than the others; it may be the end of the physical torture, but it reminded Sonic that he had been used and that no one would want him. Regardless, the end wasn't soon enough for the blue hedgehog. He was going to be in so much pain in the morning…_

"_A nice, tight fuck as always, Sonic," Mephiles said as he stood up and brushed himself off, not caring what he had just done and about the condition of the hedgehog he had just raped, "See you tomorrow." He removed the cuff from Sonic's ankle, laughed and exited the room, knowing how to undo his special way of locking the door. Once the door slammed shut, Sonic slumped against the floor, pain wracking every single part of his body. Every day he was degrading himself more and more…when would the nightmare end?_

XXXXXXXXX

"Sonic, it's ok! It's just me!" Sonic sat up, gasping and almost in tears. He wrapped his arms around the other hedgehog and snuggled into his lover's shoulder.

"What…what happened?" Sonic whimpered.

"I'm not sure…you suddenly just freaked out and started ranting about Mephiles raping you. I was going to go fetch Tails, but your fit was over in a matter of minutes."

Sonic was quiet for a moment, thinking, "It wasn't Mephiles originally. It was Wario being controlled by Mephiles – it's just with Dr. Nam's therapy I no longer blame Wario, so instead Mephiles is in his place."

"That's actually a good thing," Sonic's lover sighed and pulled the blue hedgehog closer, "But if you dreamed about rape, perhaps we should stop for the night…"

"No…don't ruin all of your plans because of me. I'll be alright." Sonic pulled his lover closer for a deep kiss, "Come on…what was your little surprise?"

The other hedgehog laughed softly, "Follow me."

XXXXXXXXX

Tails continued working, unsure of how to react to that strange feeling. He glanced at the clock; almost midnight. He wasn't sure how long he was supposed to keep away from upstairs…well; he could always stay and work until dawn. He could sleep in tomorrow…

The haunting sound of a flute made Tails look at the door…it seemed sad, and yet powerful, but above all, it was calling for him…

Nine minutes until midnight. Tails slipped off of his stool and walked up the stairs, needing to know what was going on.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic moaned as he felt a finger wedge its way slightly into his backside. He didn't know what the heck that drink was – it wasn't alcohol, that was for certain – but it made every single thing his lover did to him feel so damn good.

His erection was constantly being stroked and played with, making Sonic whimper and moan with pleasure. For being completely terrified at the thought of being touched in a sexual way just a few months ago, he had really gotten used to this.

Sonic was rolled on top, and the blue hedgehog knew that it was almost time for him to enter.

XXXXXXXXX

Tails opened the door and stepped out into the night. The full moon was right over him, bright and strong. The stars seemed to glow brighter tonight than normal, lighting up the place so it was almost like day.

The flute player was only a few meters away from Tails with their back towards him; they were wearing an amethyst-colored cloak and black boots, but otherwise Tails could see little about them. Their arms were raised to the side because they were holding the flute to their lips; the song seemed happy and yet sad at the same time. Tails couldn't do anything but stare and listen to the spooky song.

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh, Sonic…" the hedgehog looked up at Sonic with love and lust, "I love you, Sonic…"

Sonic smiled back and kissed his lover, "I love you." The two hedgehogs kissed again, almost ready…

XXXXXXXXX

The player suddenly stopped, and twirled around on one foot. Tails should have guessed who the flute player was, but even so he was surprised – it was Isis.

"Good evening, Tails. I hope I didn't wake you up?" Isis asked.

"How…how do you know my name?" Tails asked.

Isis laughed, but it didn't sound cruel – it was soft, like a summer breeze; something Tails didn't expect from someone who seemed so dark, "I know plenty of things, Tails, but most you don't need to know about. Anyways, I'm here to give your prize…surely you haven't forgotten?"

Tails gulped, but was frozen to the spot. He whispered, "Did you kill…and steal…"

"Oh no; I don't do any of those things. The wheel makes them happen – I just hand out the grand prize." Isis took a few steps closer so she could reach out and touch Tails, "Are you ready?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Ready." Sonic took another look at the hedgehog underneath him before slowly pushing inside.

"Sonic! Ah! Oh, Sonic…" The two hedgehogs were so caught up in their moment of passion they didn't realize what was going on outside.

XXXXXXXXX

Before Tails could react, Isis reached out and touched Tails in the middle of his forehead. There was a bright purple flash in the shape of an eye, and his body was surrounded in purple flames that for some reason didn't burn. And then the pain began.

Tails fell to his knees, and then to his side; his body wracked with pain. He didn't even realize it was possible to hurt this much – it felt like he was being burned alive from the inside. The flames were still dancing on his fur, except now it felt like the flames were pushing needles deep into his skin. He could feel something being pushed through his veins, choking them and filling them with some unknown liquid. He was dying – he was hurting so much, he wanted to die…

The fox tried to yell at Isis to stop the pain – he didn't want this – but she was gone. He was alone. Thick tears began trailing down his cheeks because of torture his body was going through. Every bone and muscle felt like it was changing shape and rearranging themselves, yanking and twisting in ways they shouldn't. Tails was just waiting for his bones to start popping through his skin, letting his blood gush onto the grass below. His stomach threatened to vomit everything he had eaten, but his burning throat wouldn't cooperate. Tails could feel his organs shaking around inside his chest, like they were being tossed in an organ salad. He tasted iron on his lips, and it took Tails a moment to realize he was crying tears of blood. What was going on? What kind of powers was he getting – if he was getting any at all; perhaps Isis had left him to die a horrible, painful death.

Everything was alternating; everything was crazy – blurred together, like when he had spun the wooden wheel. It was like somebody was burning him at one point, and then holding a block of ice against another point, so different parts of his body were blazing hot and ice cold at the same time. Tails began to hear howling and barking, and then something sunk its teeth deep into his leg. He cried out and tried to swat the beast away, but then something else let out a screech and flew down, pecking at his eyes, and he was forced to move his hands up to protect them. Sometimes his limbs felt like they were made of concrete, while other times they felt so light they were rising off the ground. His throat started to contract, and he couldn't breathe – and then he could breathe again, the cold air stinging his throat.

He was hearing voices – the whinny of a horse, the roar of a panther, Isis' laugh, and the laugh of some deranged madman. The lunatic's laugh soon took over the other sounds, and it was so loud that it made Tails' head throb like someone had hit him repeatedly over the head with a hammer. He clutched his aching skull in an attempt to dull the pain, but nothing was working. He was thrashing on the ground, completely helpless to do anything. He couldn't walk, talk, or think… he couldn't even scream because everything hurt so much. The pain was getting stronger and stronger…Tails could feel the strange venom heading straight for his heart.

Sonic…he needed Sonic…

Then the poison finally reached his heart and took control – and now Tails could scream.

XXXXXXXXX

The blood-curdling shriek made Sonic immediately forget his passion. He knew that voice anywhere. In seconds he was outside, yelling at the top of his lungs for Tails; his lover wasn't far behind. It wasn't long before Sonic found his young friend curled up into a ball on the grass, looking like he had gone through every single torture imaginable. Sonic dropped to his knees and rolled his buddy over, and when he saw the bloody tears running down Tails' cheeks he screamed for his lover to get the plane to take Tails to a hospital.

Tails was barely able to see through the crimson wall that had formed over his eyes – yet he recognized Sonic's touch as the blue hedgehog picked the fox up and ran towards the plane. There was another hedgehog seated in the pilot seat – Sonic's lover. If Tails didn't hurt so much, he'd apologize for ruining their evening. Shadow – or wait, was it Amy? Sonic was confused on who he liked, and he could have fallen in love with either of them…who was it – Shadow, or Amy? Tails couldn't remember.

The only thing Tails recalled before he passed out was Sonic whispering, "I've got you, buddy. It's going to be ok." Then the darkness swallowed Tails, bringing relief from the torture and the eerie, haunting laugh in his head.


	4. Activate

"Please, tell me what's going on! Please!" Sonic looked at the doctor who was examining Tails. The doctor moved the stethoscope around a little more, sadly shook his head and then placed it on a table.

"I'm sorry Sonic, but I'm not sure what's going on. It seems he's somehow gone into a coma, but I'm unable to pinpoint the reason…"

"Please help him! I'll do anything!" The hedgehog's eyes were so hopeful the doctor just couldn't say no.

"I'll do whatever I can. Nurse, get Tails ready for X-rays. Sonic, perhaps you'd like to go to the waiting room?"

"No…wherever my buddy goes, I go." The doctor could tell Sonic wasn't going to back down, regardless of what he said, so he sighed and motioned for the hedgehog to follow.

XXXXXXXXX

Isis cursed to herself as she watched a few doctors insert needles into Tails' arms and test his pulse. She disbanded the spell and dumped the bowl of water onto the ground behind the hospital; there was no reason for her to watch anymore. Isis sighed; she didn't mean to run off before – she was planning on giving Tails the medicine to wake him up right away, but then realized she had forgotten to bring the lily-of-the-valley flower she required. The potion had to be made fresh, otherwise it was worthless. In the ten minutes it had taken her to run back to her campsite and return, Tails had disappeared.

It was easy enough for Isis to track Tails down, but now that he was surrounded by doctors and nurses she wouldn't be able to give him the potion and explain everything to him without being detected. By now everyone was keeping a close watch for someone with her description, which meant that she couldn't go out in public easily anymore.

"No matter," Isis muttered to herself, "This just makes everything more interesting." She popped open a little star-shaped device that looked like a makeup container; it was small enough to fit in her palm, yet was powerful enough to work as a computer, television, phone and more.

Isis typed in the name of the hospital and clicked on the website. If she was going to get close to Tails, she needed information. "So, this hospital has a volunteer program, eh? This will be much easier than I thought…" She put the device away, then shifted her pack off her shoulders and began rooting through it.

The first thing she had to do was disguise her regular appearance. Isis pulled out a brown bottle and walked over to the water tap at the back of the hospital. After one quick check to make sure no one was coming, she turned on the tap and stuck her head underneath, letting the cool water rush over her. If anybody saw her washing outside when it was already below zero, they'd think she was crazy. But the cold didn't bother her. Isis snapped open the lid of the bottle and rubbed the brown paste into her hair. After one more rinse under the tap, her hair was now a chocolate brown.

Isis smashed the bottle into pieces and threw it into a dumpster. She then washed her hands and went back to her pack. Next was her eyes; her lavender eyes were way too uncommon. "Blue or green, I wonder? Maybe a bluish-green…" Isis looked through her colored contacts, and finally decided on a silvery-blue that looked nice, but wasn't remarkable. She carefully inserted the contacts into her eyes; the last thing she needed was an eye infection. Isis flipped open her compact and changed it to her mirror, and seeing that her contacts were in correctly she moved onto makeup. She powdered her skin to make it look a little whiter, and then added silver sparkles on her eyelids. After applying light pink lipstick, she nodded in approval.

For clothing, she changed into a pink t-shirt and blue jeans, and slipped on running shoes. A heart necklace that said, '#1 Friend' and a heart bracelet added the final touch.

"There! Now, all I need is a background story…" This was Isis' favorite part; when she made up everything about her new look so she had something to tell people if they asked. She always tried to make it way different from her last one, so she could try out different styles.

"Ok…my name will be Brittney Forsyth. I will have a mom named Danielle who stays at home with my little brother Tommy, who is two months old, and a dad named James who works with computers. I'll be thirteen, in ninth grade and go to…" Isis opened her compact again and searched for local schools, "Swann High. I'll play volleyball and soccer, and be on the student council. My favorite color will be pink, my favorite animal will be a horse, and my favorite food…" Isis thought for a moment, and then decided to do something a little more out of character, "Chili dogs."

"That basically covers everything," Isis mumbled to herself as she printed out a volunteer hospital tag. She pinned it on her shirt, picked up her supplies and then ran off to find a hiding place where she could wait until morning.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic sat beside Tails' bed, looking down at his best friend. The doctors had hooked him up on a life support system because his breathing faltered every few minutes, and they were afraid he could die. The bed had a rail around it, just in case Tails started thrashing again. The room was dark except for the moonlight shining down on the two friends, making their fur sparkle slightly.

When Sonic wasn't watching Tails, he watched the machine registering Tails' heartbeat – it was getting slower and weaker as time passed. Still, Sonic refused to give up hope, and he sat right by Tails' side, refusing to let go of his hand. The doctors said that something was going through his bloodstream and that could be what was killing him off, but because they didn't know what it was it was too risky to try and remove it. It looked like a dark liquid was moving through the fox's body and surrounding his brain. Nobody had a clue what was going on.

Sonic whimpered softly and leaned forward to rub Tails' head, "What's going on, buddy? Why is this happening?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Where is Sonic?" Knuckles asked, looking at the three hedgehogs. The four of them were in the hospital's cafeteria, eating breakfast. Knuckles didn't hear about Tails' sudden disease until morning and decided to come over to hospital to see how he was doing. As well, Rouge told him that Sonic refused to move from Tails' side and fought anybody who tried to drag him away.

Amy and Shadow continued to eat in silence, but Silver responded, "Still in Tails' room. He hasn't budged since they brought Tails here ten hours ago."

"I don't think he's slept, either," Amy sighed, picking at her breakfast, "I'm so worried about both of them. What do you think Tails has?"

Shadow shrugged, "Who knows…but if having Tails on death row is affecting Sonic this badly…"

The black hedgehog didn't need to say the words. Everyone had the terrible thought in the back of their mind that said that if Tails died, Sonic was going to completely lose it.

"I'm going to go talk to him," Knuckles said, getting up and heading for the elevators.

Along the way, a girl with brown hair and wearing a white coat caught up with him, "Hello! You're going up, too?"

Knuckles nodded, "Yeah…to see my friends." The bell dinged, and the doors slid open. The girl and Knuckles entered the elevator.

"Oh! What happened to them?" Knuckles looked over at the girl, and read a tag that said, 'Brittney Forsyth, Volunteer'.

"No one knows. One just got sick, and the other won't move from his side." Knuckles thought he saw Brittney's fists clench, but he wasn't completely sure.

"Really? That's so noble! What room are they in?"

"Why do you care?" Knuckles shot back, "I'm sure it's all over the news right now anyways!"

Brittney became sad. "I'm sorry," she whispered softly, "I didn't mean to make you upset."

Knuckles sighed. It wasn't this girl's fault Tails was so ill, "It's ok…I'm just worried."

That cheered Brittney right up. She smiled, "Alright! By the way, I'm Brittney."

"I'm Knuckles."

"Charmed," Brittney said, taking Knuckles' hand and shaking it without him even offering his hand, "I'm here to get credits for college, although I'm only in ninth grade! You know, maybe I can help your friends! I'll ask around."

The doors opened on the fifth floor ICU center, and Knuckles stepped out of the elevator, "You do that." He left without another word.

Brittney got off on the sixth floor and walked towards the stairwell. She walked down until the fifth floor and headed straight for the file room. Nobody questioned her as she walked inside and began looking through the files; Isis knew the trick was to act like she belonged.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey Sonic," Knuckles said softly as he went to stand beside his friend, "How's it going?"

"Not good," Sonic whispered. His eyes never looked away from Tails.

Knuckles looked over to the fox lying in the bed. Tails' breathing was soft and shallow, and he seemed to be getting weaker as time moved on. It already looked like he had been sick for months, not just half a day. "Sonic, you're not doing yourself any good by sitting here. Why don't you come downstairs and eat something?"

"No," Sonic whispered, "I have to stay awake for the next ninety hours right by his side without eating anything or he'll die. I have another seventy-nine to go…"

"Are you crazy? That's not going to help!"

"Yes it will!" Sonic finally looked at the echidna, "I don't know why. I just have to."

Knuckles couldn't make himself argue back; Sonic's eyes were showing two rare emotions – fear and sadness. The only time Knuckles had even seen Sonic this upset was back in June.

"Alright, stay here. Can you drink anything?" Sonic nodded, looking at Tails again. "Want some juice or something?"

"Yeah."

"What kind?"

"Orange, please."

"Ok…I'll be right back." Knuckles walked quietly out of the room, like a sudden noise would suddenly cause Tails' heart to fail.

There was a vending machine not far down the hall. Knuckles popped a few quarters in and waited for the machine to give him the bottle of orange juice. Out of the corner of his eye, Knuckles thought he saw a dark figure slip into another room, but when he turned around to get a better look, nobody was there.

The sound of the plastic bottle landing in the little tray brought Knuckles' attention back to Sonic and Tails. He grabbed the juice bottle and was about to walk back to the room when a black hedgehog suddenly was blocking his path.

"Shadow? What the heck do you want?" Knuckles asked.

"Mephiles is back! He's attacking a jewelry store not far from here. Let's go!" Shadow took off before Knuckles could reply.

Knuckles was confused for a few seconds, and then ran to Tails' room. He burst through the door and said, "Sonic, Mephiles is back! We need you; let's get going!" He dumped the orange juice on the table next to Sonic.

"No. I cannot leave Tails or he'll die. Go alone." Sonic didn't even seem to be affected by the information; right now the only thing on his mind was his best friend.

Knuckles stared at Sonic silently for a minute, and sensing that the news wasn't going to hit home he left to go fight himself.

XXXXXXXXX

The head of the hospital commanded that no citizen should leave the building. The only people permitted out were those going to help the injured at the crime scene. Everyone was crowded around the televisions, watching the whole event unfold live, making it easy for Isis to get out undetected.

Isis had seen enough footage to get an idea of the situation; some crazy hedgehog was trying to steal some gems with a horde of random monsters and some other hedgehogs were fighting back. Isis knew that Sonic was supposed to be there, but because he was so occupied with Tails he wasn't going anywhere.

"Well, I guess I owe you this much, Sonic, since it's my fault Tails is this way." Isis ran along in an alley, making sure no one saw her. She couldn't fight like this – if her picture got on the news, which it likely would, she'd never get close to Tails – so she had to switch things up a little.

While running, Isis commanded her body to change form. She moved to running on all fours, and her arms and legs became covered with black fur. She gained a tail, and her body packed on muscle and grew black fur. Her face twisted and morphed, and instead of a young girl a black panther was moving towards the fight.

Isis leaped onto a dumpster, and then onto the roof of the nearest house. From there she was able to jump from building to building all the way to the store. She stopped on the wedding shop right beside the jewelry store and watched the scene below.

Knuckles was pounding away at what looked like a ten-foot tall, brown and white evil rabbit; if it wasn't doing so much damage to the street Isis would have thought that it was a complete and utter joke. Isis could see a silver hedgehog attacking a dark blue one, but there was no sign of the pink and black hedgehogs she had seen earlier.

The dark blue one was wearing a cape and floating above the store, twisting out of the way of the silver one's punches. He flipped around and snarled, "Hey Silver, wanna play a game?" He moved his hands to his sides and began to charge up some sort of energy ball.

Silver quickly gained his balance and turned to meet the other hedgehog, "You can't win, Mephiles!" The energy ball Mephiles fired was reflected back at him, although Mephiles moved before it could hit him.

The rabbit-monster below slammed its brown-furred hand into the wall, missing Knuckles by a good two meters. _"The stupid creature must have horrendous depth perception,"_ Isis thought. Civilians were backing away from the fight and screaming, while the police just stood in shock, unsure what to do. The only people who seemed to be alive were the reporters and camera workers, wanting to capture every moment of this exciting battle; and would it ever sell papers.

The rabbit tried to hit the echidna but missed again, raining bricks and cement supports onto the ground. Over the noise only Isis' enhanced hearing was able to catch Mephiles shout, "Hey Silver! Remember what I did you? You were so tight…such a sexy little thing."

Silver snarled and tried to ram Mephiles, which was exactly what the dark hedgehog wanted. A dark blast hit the silver hedgehog squarely in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

"Silver!" Isis' attention turned to the ground below, where a purple cat was making her way towards the fight, "Hey Mephiles; leave him alone!" Mephiles barely managed to dodge a stream of fire, and the dark hedgehog left Silver alone in order to face his new opponent.

By now Isis was ready to join the fight, but something bothered her. Mephiles' remark sounded like he had raped Silver or something…but it was a lie. One of Isis' powers was that she could tell when people were lying, and what Mephiles had said was a lie. But Silver believed it – so what was going on?

"Perhaps I made a mistake," Isis mumbled, "Through the noise and in the heat of battle? Yeah, I messed up. I must have…or this strange hedgehog must have some interesting powers."

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow dropped down to his knees in order to avoid the kick, and then quickly snapped a fist up and hit his opponent directly in the stomach. The strange reptilian creature was knocked off balance and tumbled into a display case in a waterfall of shattered glass. Shadow stood up and looked around the room, but all of the enemies seemed to have been defeated.

"_This isn't right; why did Mephiles attack this place and not take anything? Just for kicks?"_ Shadow looked back at the creature; it was about four feet tall and had purplish scaly skin. It looked like a combination between a lion and lizard, and of course was dead now thanks to Shadow. Or maybe it wasn't dead; considering Shadow didn't know what these creatures were, perhaps they had to be killed in a special way.

Shadow looked at the other five he had defeated, all around the same size, crazy colors and crosses of two different animals – a white monkey-sheep, a blue alligator-dog, a red armadillo-hyena, a green weasel-llama and an orange caribou-cougar. None of them had moved since Shadow took them down just a few minutes ago – but why were they here?

"Shadow, this way! I found something!" Shadow carefully walked across the floor, making sure not to have any glass scratch his legs. At the back of the room, Amy was sorting her way through a pile of debris that had fallen down because of Shadow throwing the monkey-sheep cross into the wall. Said creature was lying on top of the pile Amy was searching through, but it didn't seem to be alive.

"Careful, Amy. Who knows what those things can do…" Shadow let his ruby eyes move over to the body, but it remained still.

"And you'll just beat them up again; it's no big deal. But look what I've found…" Amy pushed the last bits of brick aside and pulled out a glowing, white gem.

Shadow's eyes went wide when he saw it, "A Chaos Emerald?"

XXXXXXXXX

Isis' senses went on high alert. Some object of power had come into her psychic vision. She always had a mental barrier surrounding her, warning her when danger was near. But this object…Isis closed her eyes and let her conscious flow into her environment. In a few moments, she interpreted the power source – some sort of white jewel. After a quick examination, Isis pulled back into her body to use her mental powers to analyze the gemstone. In another minute she knew all she needed to know – this bauble was very powerful, there was more than one, and while she couldn't personally draw out the power inside to its full potential, there were others who could – two hedgehogs, the black one and Sonic, seemed the most likely candidates.

"Fascinating," Isis murmured, "Perhaps I shall hunt for one of these jewels myself to see what I could do with them…" A blast from below brought Isis back to the battle. The rabbit had snatched Knuckles up and was crushing him in its iron grip.

Silver and the cat were too busy focusing on Mephiles, and the two hedgehogs inside couldn't see what was happening. Seeing that Knuckles was struggling but couldn't escape, Isis decided it was time for her entrance, so she let out a roar and leaped off the building onto the monster.

XXXXXXXXX

"What's this doing here?" Shadow asked, stepping closer.

"I think that thing had it and dropped it when you threw him," Amy replied, pointing to the monkey-sheep cross.

The creature suddenly sat up and chuckled in a deep, gravely voice, "You got that right, girly."

Amy gasped and began to back away, while Shadow stepped protectively in front of her. "I thought you were dead!" Amy gasped. Shadow nodded, agreeing.

"Hardly, girl," the caribou-cougar cross said, standing up and coming closer. The other strange breeds began to move towards the two hedgehogs, "Just tired, is all."

"And weeeee want that geeeemmmm…" the lizard-lion hissed.

Shadow held up his fists and snapped, "You wish! Amy, run!"

Amy scrambled to her feet and dashed into the storage room and out the back door while Shadow pounded away at the monsters.

XXXXXXXXX

To say Knuckles and the rabbit-monster were surprised was an understatement. To say that either of them expected a black panther to be so skilled in combat was even more off. Isis' claws ripped through flesh, and in seconds Knuckles was free.

The battle-hardened echidna landed on his feet and then dashed up, slamming his spiked fist into the monster's stomach. The rabbit let out a loud moan and fell onto his back, defeated.

Mephiles stared in shock, wondering where the heck this panther came from and why it was fighting against him, and just barely avoided being burnt to a crisp. "One of your friends, Blaze?" he snarled, looking at the purple cat that had just landed on another building.

"Not sure," Blaze panted, "But it's not yours!"

Mephiles snarled and looked at the panther, and suddenly a purple light filled his eyes, bringing a slight pain with it. He was dazed for a moment and then was smacked to the ground by Silver. Mephiles moaned and sat up, and then flew into the air again. He heard voice in his head say, "One hour remaining until termination."

"_Oh hell no,"_ Mephiles thought, _"There's no possible way that cat could have cursed me!"_

Knuckles looked over to the panther that had saved him. The panther regarded him with brilliant lavender eyes, and Knuckles asked, "Um, you're on my side, right?"

The panther let out a chuff and nodded, eyes dancing. Knuckles wasn't quite sure what to make of the cat, seeing that panthers weren't native to this place and this one seemed to understand speech. Knuckles moved closer to the panther so they were only two feet apart and asked, "Are you willing to help me out, then?" The cat nodded again, and Knuckles pointed to the building, "Go inside and help my two friends in there; both hedgehogs. I'm gonna get that guy." Knuckles pointed to Mephiles. The cat roared and dashed inside the all but destroyed building.

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow brought his heel down and hit the weasel-cross on the temple. The thing seemed to have fainted, but Shadow didn't have time to check for he was already fighting the alligator-monster. The thing snapped at him with its long snout with both dog and alligator fangs, and Shadow was trapped, holding the thing at bay but leaving the rest of his body unguarded.

The sudden roar of a cat startled everyone for a moment, but Shadow quickly regained his bearings when he saw the panther swipe at the armadillo, meaning that it probably was on his side. Shadow easily flipped his opponent over his head and kicked it, taking it down. By this time the armadillo was torn to pieces and the panther was after the caribou-cross. Shadow took on the last monster, and once again all of the creatures were defeated.

Shadow went down on one knee, panting heavily. A drop of sweat rolled down his cheek and he hastily wiped it away. The panther walked towards him and rubbed his face, chuffing lightly, like it was asking if he was ok. Shadow looked up into a pair of eyes almost like his own – showing strength, power and anger – just a different color.

"You on my side?" Shadow panted. The cat nodded. "Did you see a pink hedgehog?" The panther tipped its head to the side, seeming confused. "Guess not." Shadow stood up, "I'd better go check on her…" The cat stepped in front of him and shook its head back and forth before pointing to the remains of the front door, "You want me to go help the others? You'll look for Amy?" The panther nodded. Shadow grinned in spite of himself; talking to a cat that understood him seemed plain odd, "Alright. Good luck, cat." The panther winked at the hedgehog before dashing out the back door, and Shadow stared for a moment in confusion; even though the cat had stepped on sharp glass, it didn't cut its paws.

XXXXXXXXX

Amy was exhausted. She had sprinted a good two miles or so without stopping, but now her adrenaline was basically gone. The pink hedgehog leaned against a wall, heaving. She was out of the busier parts of the city and now was alone behind a factory. In the daylight, it was actually an alright place – there was even a park behind a chain link fence across from her, meaning there were plenty of ways for her to escape too, if needed.

"I need to get back to the hospital," Amy panted, "Sonic can take care of this Emerald." She looked down at her hand, gripping the glowing white gem, "I wonder how it got in that store…"

"Master's plan! Master plan!" Amy gasped and twirled around, and saw three strange black birds sitting on top of the building, looking down at her. All three looked like giant crows, but with huge blue feathers poking out of the tops of their heads, and strange blue eyes that seemed to be twirling around and out of focus.

"What plan?" Amy asked, slowly getting ready to run.

The bird on the left said in a robotic voice, "Plan for master."

The middle one squawked in the same tone, "The master plan."

The right one said, "Master's plan for ruuuuullllliiiiinnnngggg," drawing out the last word so it sounded like a bell ringing. He peered down at Amy, scrutinizing her.

"Go away, you nasty birds! Shoo!" Amy picked up a rock and heaved it at one of the crows, hitting it squarely in the eye.

The middle bird squawked and fell onto the roof, but in a second sat up and moaned, "Join uuuussssss…" It spread its wings and flew down at Amy.

Amy gasped and ducked, the bird zooming right over her head. It immediately turned around for another strike, and Amy took off down the alley and back onto the streets. The crows followed, squawking.

But she was too tired to continue running for long. After only three blocks she was exhausted, and all three birds were coming for her. "I…I can't…fight…them…" Amy panted, "I'm…too…tired." She slumped against a light post, "What…am I…gonna…do…" The birds were coming for her, so close…Amy shut her eyes, but then opened them again when he heard the birds screech and a cat roar. Amy gasped as a black panther knocked her pursuers out of the sky, easily leaping twelve feet into the air to bring them down. It only took a few minutes for all of the birds to be defeated.

The panther nimbly landed on all fours and strutted towards Amy, tail swishing back and forth and lips pulled up in a cat version of a smile. The birds twitched behind the cat, but didn't stand up.

"You…you saved me. Thank you." Amy let herself sit on the ground now that the danger had passed, and the cat lay down beside her.

After a few minutes when she got her breath back, Amy turned to the panther, "I hate to ask, but could you possibly protect me until I get back to City Hospital? I can't let this get stolen." Amy showed the panther the Chaos Emerald, and the panther's eyes grew brighter. It nodded enthusiastically, then got up and walked in front of Amy before crouching down and looking at her.

"Do you want me to ride you?" Amy asked. The cat nodded again, so Amy slowly moved forward and pulled herself onto the sleek, muscled back. As soon as she was on the great cat leapt forward and began to run.

XXXXXXXXX

Mephiles suddenly stopped fighting the two hedgehogs, Knuckles and Blaze. His eyes glazed over with dark flames, and then he snapped his fingers and disappeared. Knuckles stopped his attack and landed on the roof of the destroyed building, skidding to a stop, "Hey! Where'd he go?"

"Not sure," Silver said, looking around, "But he'll be back."

"He always comes back," Blaze replied, "But he's never disappeared just like that before. I wonder what made him leave."

XXXXXXXXX

Mephiles cursed the black panther as he walked throughout his newly dug base. That cat was no simple animal; it had placed a special curse on him – either he had to leave the area under a certain time limit or die. He knew that dying wouldn't help accomplish his goals, so he teleported back to his base, downright furious at his new enemy.

"How did that cat know what to do? I have never seen somebody else with that kind of power! I couldn't dispel the curse…" Mephiles pushed aside some papers on a huge table in his lab and began pawing through a pile of books, "What kind of powers does this cat have?"

It didn't take long for Mephiles to find out. He had carefully researched each of his opponent's powers and their weaknesses, and the cat had used an ability that Silver could learn – if he wasn't focused on the light side of his powers instead of dark.

"So, this panther uses psychic abilities, eh? And combines dark magic with it to make curses…" Mephiles scoured the pages, rooting for more information, "A strange combination; ghosts usually scare these types, but otherwise they have few weaknesses. Fine, so the cat's a psychic, and a strong one. But apparently most of their moves don't work on ghosts…now, where can I get a ghost?" Mephiles turned the page to a picture of an old lighthouse, "Jackpot."

XXXXXXXXX

Amy held onto the cat's muscled neck as the panther ran through the city on the way to the hospital. While the panther was moving nowhere near Sonic's speed, Amy didn't doubt that they were moving faster than normal. In just a few minutes, they were outside the hospital, yet the cat didn't show the slightest sign of exhaustion.

The pink hedgehog waited until the panther laid on the ground before getting off, "Thanks for the lift." Then she smiled, "Hey, why don't you come see my friends? I bet Sonic and Tails would like to meet you!"

"_Tails?" _Isis thought, _"Oh, yes please!"_ She wagged her tail and nodded, smiling as well.

Amy giggled, "Great! They let therapy pets in here, although I'm not sure about therapy panthers…but you'll behave, won't you?" Isis nodded and walked towards the front entrance, Amy following.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic could feel sleep beckoning him, an ache building up behind his eyes – but he refused to give in. He needed to stay awake for the next seventy-seven hours or so if Tails was going to be alright.

The door creaked open, and Sonic looked over his shoulder. To his surprise, Amy came in, along with a black panther, "What the…?"

"Sonic, this panther helped me get away from Mephiles' minions. I thought you'd like to meet her." Amy patted the cat on the head, and Isis walked forward, holding a Chaos Emerald in her mouth.

Sonic's eyes went wide, "Where'd you get that?"

"Mephiles knew it was in the jewelry store…he must be looking for them," Amy replied as Isis dropped the Emerald into Sonic's lap. She then rubbed the blue hedgehog's side and let out a small purr. Sonic grinned and rubbed Isis' head and her purring grew louder.

"I read that therapy animals often help patients who've gone into comas…" Amy whispered after a few minutes, "Perhaps this panther can help?"

Sonic looked at Amy, "They let this cat in here?"

"Well, nobody seemed to notice, or if they did, they didn't care. Nobody spoke to me." Amy shrugged, "But she's a nice cat. She won't hurt us."

"How do you know it's a girl?"

Amy giggled, "The eyes, I guess…I didn't think a boy would have lavender-colored eyes, and when I asked if she was a girl she nodded."

"Huh…" Sonic looked at Isis again, his sad green eyes meeting her calm purple ones, "Could you possibly help my friend?" Sonic whispered.

Isis nodded, leaped onto the bed beside Tails, lay down and closed her eyes while letting her mind attach itself to Tails'…

XXXXXXXXX

Tails was trapped in this darkness. He was nowhere, but somewhere too. All around him was black, except for the circle of light he was sitting in, coming from no source. He shuddered and curled into a ball. Where was he? What was going on?

"Help me, somebody…" Tails whispered. There was no point in shouting; nobody could save him from the blackness that surrounded him. He had been calling for hours, and no one replied. What was going to happen to him?

Suddenly, a purple eye appeared about a hundred feet away from him, looking exactly like the picture on the wheel. Tails uncurled and leaned slightly forward, wishing to see who was there. The eye slowly grew larger, and after an agonizing five minutes Isis appeared, looking exactly like Tails remembered, and holding up a purple crystal eye making the light.

Tails gasped, "Isis? What are you…?"

"I'm sorry, Tails…I should have been more prepared. You thought I left you, didn't you?" Tails nodded, and Isis sighed, "I'm sorry, but just to let you know there are three things I never break: hearts, friendships and promises, and I do believe I promised you super powers, right?"

"Yeah…" Tails nodded, standing up, "So what's going on?"

"You're in a coma, basically. When someone gets powers in this way, their body has to shut down in order to deal with these new abilities. Originally the idea was to give you a potion so that you'd stay awake, alive and feel no pain until your body adjusted – although you'd be quite weak for some time; it's easier on everyone else. When Sonic took you here, I had quite a bit of trouble getting into the hospital undetected to give you your cure…"

"Can I die from this?"

"Not unless you're pure evil; then the power will kill you to prevent someone from abusing it. But you're not evil so it's all good." Isis reached into her cloak and pulled out a bottle, "Because our minds our attached, I don't need to make a real potion anymore – my mind creates it, transfers it and will produce the same results." She held out the purple flask to Tails, "Drink it and you'll wake up in a few hours. You'll be tired and weak, but you won't feel any pain, nor will your friends worry anymore. Your powers will come soon enough, and if you'd like I'll teach you the basics. But until then I've gotten run – the cops are after me."

"For the wheel, right?" Tails asked, and Isis nodded. "Why are you doing it?"

Isis waved her hand, "Long story, doesn't need to be told. You want the cure or not?"

Tails nodded, and Isis handed him the bottle. The fox uncorked it. The sweet scent of flowers filled the air, and Tails took a deep breath and gulped the contents of the bottle down. All of a sudden the darkness disappeared, and the two were standing in a huge field of flowers. A small brook bubbled not far from them, and the trees were heavy with ripe fruit. Bubbles floated everywhere in rainbow colors, and birds sang and chattered in the trees.

Tails seemed confused, and Isis chuckled, "The image you'll see for the next little while can be anything, but I thought you'd like it to be something relaxing. Don't worry; you'll wake up soon." Isis bowed, "I'll be seeing you." With that, Isis turned and started to walk away.

"Isis, wait!" Tails called, running after her. But then he felt strange, like something disappear, and he stopped running. He knew that she had broken the connection and was gone.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic and Amy both smiled as Tails' heartbeat went right back to normal and his breathing was no longer labored. Sonic was crossing his fingers that his best friend would wake up, but the fox stayed silent.

Isis opened her eyes, yawned, and then got off the bed. She padded out the door and left without looking back.

Amy was about to call for the panther, but Sonic stopped her, "Let the panther go; she's done her job." Sonic smiled and gripped Tails' hand, "Tails will be ok soon, but I can't leave just yet."

Amy shook her head; Sonic was going on about his theory again. But usually his instincts were right, so there was no reason to currently doubt him, "Will you be alright?"

Sonic smiled, "Of course!"

"Perhaps you should keep this," Amy said, handing Sonic the Chaos Emerald, "So Mephiles can't get it."

"Alright," Sonic replied, tucking the gem into his quills, "I'll take good care of it." Amy smiled and left the room, wondering where the panther had disappeared too.

Sonic turned back to Tails, and then every event caught up with him. He started to shake, and had to hold the bedrail to keep himself from crushing Tails' hand, "Oh gods…Mephiles is back! Oh gods…" he put his head down, "What's going to happen to me now that he's back?" He was gripping the bedrail so hard his hands were starting to hurt. Sonic slowly forced himself to remove his fingers, one by one, but immediately he curled into a ball on his chair, shaking. Even after all this time, knowing that Mephiles was so close made him panic…and once Mephiles came to him in person…

"No! This won't do!" Sonic looked at Tails, relaxing his body so he was sitting normally again, "I bet he had something to do with this; he hurt Tails and attacked my friends…I can't let him win! I won't! I'll beat him!" Sonic growled, "I don't care what it takes! I'll do anything to get rid of him once and for all!"

Sonic grabbed Tails hand and whispered, "You helped me so much, Tails, but I've got to stand alone again on this. I vow that I'm going to do whatever it takes to beat Mephiles, and no threat, move or power is going to stop me!"


	5. Eye Spy

_**Ok, I guess I lied. Honestly I've been either sick or busy every day (usually the latter) for the past month! So now I'm finally updating! Sorry for taking so long!**_

Isis had reverted back to her human disguise in a storage closet. After she had brushed back her hair, she sighed in relief and then turned off her night vision. Tails was going to be alright and now she could wander off somewhere else. As long as she stayed out of her panther form, the Mephiles-hedgehog-thingy shouldn't recognize her and she would be safe.

"I'm glad this is all over," Isis mumbled to herself, slipping out of the closet, "Now I can go to that bloody witch and –"

"Excuse me, but you didn't happen to see a cat go by here, did you?" Isis turned around to see Amy, looking a little confused

"_Better play it cool."_ "Depends – what does it look like?" Isis replied, smiling. Hopefully she was playing the part of the sweet teenager who just wanted to be popular.

"Well, it's actually a panther – big and black and with lavender eyes…" Amy trailed off.

"Something wrong?"

"Your eyes are the exact same color as the cat's…"

"_What?"_ Isis scanned her body, and mentally smacked herself for not being more careful. Her contacts were gone – they must have fallen out at some point when she morphed. "I…I have to go now," Isis muttered, pushing past Amy and heading for the stairs.

Once Isis went down to the next floor, she started to sprint down the hallway. At the end, there was an open window, and after a quick look around to make sure no one was coming Isis jumped out. She fell a good four stories and then rolled onto her left shoulder, making sure to spread the impact of the fall out evenly. She then dashed behind the hospital and disposed of her disguise.

"Oh, damn it, damn it, damn it…how could I have been so stupid?" Isis cursed herself while she washed out the brown dye in her hair, "Could she make the connection? And what then? Can't be too risky now – I don't know how long I'll be stuck here for…bloody witch, bloody spells…fuck…"

Now she was back to normal – black and red hair and leather clothing as to keep her protected, but to stay silent. She still had two pouches on her belt with supplies, so she wouldn't currently starve to death. She wasn't going to wear a cloak now – cloaks weren't that useful for running through the city, which was what she planned to do.

"I just need a few more people to spin that wheel and then I can get the scrolls, and then I can go beat some mob boss up and then I can see my friends again and go home…oh, fun times." Isis looked up at the sky – it was nearly sundown, which meant soon she could go find more victims. She ran across the back alley and leaped onto the side of a tall building, extracting her claws so she could dig into the brown bricks. In seconds she had pulled herself to the top of the building, and without pausing for a second she ran across the roof and leaped onto the next one.

Isis continued to run and jump from building to building; only taking quick glances back to make sure no one was following her. She continued to run until night fell and then made her way to the eastern part of the city; greeted by a tall clock tower, with the faces of the clock lit up white from the lights behind them.

"Blimey, I'm in London!" Isis giggled before leaping onto the side of the tower. She scrambled up to the top, happy to see there was a good sized ledge underneath the clock. After a quick check with her psychic powers to make sure no one else was around, Isis slumped against one of the corners of the tower, away from the faces of the clock so she wouldn't be spotted.

"Well, I hope Tails will be alright," Isis sighed while digging into her pack for some food. Usually she skipped meals, in order to make her more alert, but fighting always made her hungry. Isis bit into the white flesh of the pear; the juices running down her chin and dripping onto her hands, making everything sticky.

Isis let her mind wander while she ate – for both amusement and to make sure no one was going sneak up on her. She briefly connected minds with people and then moved on – a girl fighting with her younger sister, three boys taking a trip up north, a man with a brand new baby…and something else. Isis frowned and focused her mental energy – there was something close to her, but she couldn't picture it or connect minds with it. After about two minutes of trying, Isis snarled and brought her consciousness back to her body. She dropped the remains of her fruit on the ledge and stood up, snapping her weapons into place. Both blades were black, with purple magic swirling through them, and the hilts were in the shape of dragon heads. They were not quite swords, but not daggers either – the blades were only a foot long, meant for close-range combat and made for someone good at slipping close to opponents. Isis held the blade in her left hand slightly out in front of her while she let the right drop to her side.

"Come out come out, wherever you are…" Isis called softly into the night. She didn't like it when she couldn't picture a being – it meant that something was very wrong, and probably dangerous. Isis could sense it coming, floating up the tower…it was close, only a few meters away, and then right in front of her – but there was nothing. Isis sensed the thing fly right in front of her, but she didn't see anything.

"What the – oh, hell no…" Isis swapped her vision to see invisible objects and looked up. Right above her, a man dressed in old-fashioned clothing circled around and around, carrying a lantern. He was a ghost.

"What do you want?" Isis called out. There was no doubt in her mind that someone sent this ghost to her – the clothing he was wearing was for someone who lived near the sea, and it was highly unlikely he died here.

The man finally stopped circling and floated down, hanging out just a bit away from the ledge. His blue sailor's cap was worn thin and faded, and his plain shirt and pants were torn. His eyes were red and huge, and his nose too big for his face. He looked about fifty or sixty years old, although with ghosts it was hard to tell. The ghost scratched the stubble of his beard thoughtfully, like he was considering Isis' request.

"Hey, I know you heard me! Who sent you?" Isis got into a fighting stance – left leg and left arm forward, blade out, and right leg tensed and ready to spring in any direction.

"Mephiles did, lassie. 'e's not so 'appy 'bout yer interference today." The ghost's voice was scratchy and slow, "I'm tired of bein' 'ere, so if I can get rid of you, I'm free from this damned land."

"That hedgehog sent _you_ to fight _me_? Pul-eeze…it'll take more than just a simple ghost to beat me."

The ghost grew angry, "Really, nawh? Since ye cannot 'it me with yer psychic powers, yer dead."

Isis snarled. She was hoping to bluff about her abilities and send the ghost away with no combat, but truth was because psychic powers were all about mind and focus, it was nearly impossible to fight ghosts. Ghosts were half-living and half-dead, making them tough to focus on and psychic powers practically useless against them. But few people countered psychics with a ghost because ghosts were hard to find and even harder to convince to fight for you. Since Mephiles had managed to do both, he was good.

Perhaps Mephiles was stronger than Isis gave him credit for. Of course, after that curse she planted on him he must have been mad and ready to go after her. Since he managed to find her in her human form, he must be good – and ready to do anything to win.

She couldn't ignore Mephiles for a second anymore – he was one crafty bastard, and obviously knew what he was doing. He could have spent the day preparing to look for her – it would have only taken a few hours to get everything set up – and seeing her as a threat, decided to get rid of her. But Mephiles didn't really know her – and what she could do. Isis was going to take the fight to the hedgehog.

All of this ran through Isis' mind in seconds, and she was ready to turn the tides on this battle, "Say, what did Mephiles offer you in return for my demise?"

"Freedom from 'tis plane…I've been dead for over two 'undred years, and I'm ready to live in peace nawh."

"Hey, you know what, pal?" Isis slipped her blades back into their sheaths on her hips, "If you lead me to where Mephiles is hiding, I'll set your spirit free. The same reward for a job that's much easier – doesn't that sound like a good deal?"

The ghost's face softened for a moment, and then he glared at Isis, "Sounds like a rotten trick to me. 'ow do I know yer tellin' the truth?"

"How do you know Mephiles is?" Isis replied.

The ghost frowned, and was quiet; thinking. The wind was picking up speed, and Isis shivered despite her flame pendant kicking in and warming her up.

"Alright, but I'm gonna teleport us there with this 'ere charm." The ghost waved a necklace in front of Isis. It was on a black leather cord, and a small white crystal skull, no bigger than a penny, hung on it. "That way ye cannot locate the place again. And as soon as we get there, ye set me free."

"Ok, deal." _"If this works, I'll only have to go there once."_

"By the way, the name is Mac."

"Cool, dude. I'm Eye, by the way."

"What? 'Eye' be not a name!"

"It's a nickname, and that's all you need to talk to someone. Let's go." Mac nodded and floated closer, leaving a ghostly hand on Isis' shoulder. Isis closed her eyes and let the power of the pendant swirl around her.

There was a bright flash, and now the two were standing in a cave underground. It was completely dark, but Isis opened her eyes and saw little flickers of light. She swapped to night vision and whistled at the sight of all the shining white crystals – hundreds of thousands of them, small as pencils and as big as cars and whales – the exact same type the skull was made out of. These crystals had the potential for power, but didn't compare to that other white gem Isis had sensed earlier.

"_Maybe that other gem came from these crystals…hmm…"_

"Eye, ye gonna let me go or not?" Isis turned to look at Mac, who was floating in the air and tapping his foot.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Where do I go? Mephiles isn't here."

"Down the white crystal path ye'll find 'im."

"Uh, hello? All of the crystals are white!"

Mac laughed, "Aye – ye said I 'ad to get ye 'ere – nothing was said about it bein' a specific place!"

"Ah, fuck you. But you got me here, so…" Isis slipped a small stone out of her backpack and showed it to Mac. It was a green stone, carved into the shape of a leaf, "Hold this and make your wish to be set free from death; but in return you need to give me the skull pendant and tell me how to use it."

Mac snorted, "That wasn't part o' the deal!"

"Well, you fucked around with me too much. You want to be a ghost forever?"

"Fine!" Mac snatched the leaf rock and dropped the skull into Isis' open palm, "To teleport, ye need to think of a powerful object. The pendant will teleport ye there."

"Thank you. Have a nice afterlife."

Mac nodded and held the stone tightly, then closed his eyes. In a few seconds, he smiled, and his body began to disappear. The stone fell from his grasp onto the floor, and as it crumbled into green ashes the ghost sailor disappeared.

"Well, glad that's done with." Isis kicked the pile of ashes so they were scattered and put the skull pendant around her neck, "Now, where to go…" Isis scanned the cavern. It was almost a perfect circle, but only behind her were paths. There seemed to be no other way to get into here except from one of those – there were no holes in the ceiling or floor, no seemingly hidden doors…nothing that looked like an entrance.

"Ok, so there's only one way to go…" Isis turned around and made her way to the south side of the cavern. There were four paths – the two biggest entrances were right in front of her, there was a slightly smaller one to the right of those two, and finally the last entrance was higher up the wall to the right and the size of an air duct. All four had white crystals attached to the walls on the inside, glowing.

"Oh, great…which one? Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe." Isis pointed at the smallest path, shrugged, and then climbed up the wall.

It was a bit of a struggle to get past the crystals at the entrance without bleeding all over the place, but Isis managed to squeeze inside. With her night vision still on, Isis began to crawl on her stomach down the path. The crystals only continued for a little ways down, then stopped. Now she could move faster without the worry of cutting herself. Only a few minutes later, Isis came to a grating in the wall.

"So this _is_ an air duct? Note to self: when making an evil base, make sure the air ducts are too small to crawl through. Or have laser-bar security systems. Or both. Wait, lasers…" One of her favorite but rarely-used powers (mainly because so many others had it) was laser vision – perfect for cutting through metal on her stomach.

The purple beams quickly cut through the metal grate, and Isis tumbled out into the dark hallway below. She rolled into a somersault so she wouldn't make any noise, and then immediately pressed herself against the opposite wall and held her breath. Complete silence – she had broken in undetected.

"Ok…now to find Mephiles, I guess…" Isis looked each way, but since they looked completely similar Isis took a gamble and went to her right. Her footsteps made no sounds as she walked along the cool metal floor – she was definitely in some secret base.

"Hmm…no guards, no cameras, hell, even no lights…what kind of place is this?" Isis continued walking for a good ten minutes and nothing changed. The walls were all gray metal panels about eight feet high, the lights were all off and the only thing keeping Isis sane was the fact she had not passed the grating again – so she wasn't walking in circles.

"So this base has one good design – your enemies will take so damn long trying to find you that you'll be able to escape, easy," Isis muttered to herself. At that point the hallway suddenly ended with a huge, wooden oak door with golden handles. It was elaborately carved with pictures of angels fighting demons, old gods and goddesses, and was completely out of place in this cold, modern base. "Who the fuck decorated this place? They can't even decide what time period they're from!" Isis walked to the door and looked up. The door was a good twelve feet tall, meaning that at some point the hallways did change – it was just that Isis didn't notice. She cautiously tested the door, and finding that it was open pushed it slightly. She glanced inside – there was light, but she didn't see anyone. Isis then opened the door all the way, rolled to the left and lightly shut the door again. The door made a slight click when it shut, but nobody turned to look. Isis let her consciousness into the room, and once she made sure no one was there she dropped her night vision and pulled her mind back into her body.

The light was coming from a huge stone fireplace directly across from her that went all the way up to the thirty-foot high ceiling – one of those old wood-burning ones; it managed to light up the whole room. There was a giant, fancy red chair in front of it with a small, dark wooden table right beside it. Isis walked over to the chair and saw a closed indigo book on it, with a blue ribbon marking the latest page. Isis put her hand down on the chair – it was cold, so the occupant must not have been here in some time. Isis then turned her attention to the table. There was a small, blue knitted coaster on it, along with a champagne glass. There was a bit of red liquid at the bottom, and Isis cautiously dipped her finger in and licked it. She winced – red wine. She hated all forms of alcohol, although wine was better than most.

Isis popped a piece of citrus gum into her mouth to get rid of the awful taste. She snapped it once, and then looked at the rest of the room. She smiled in spite of herself – the room was a library, with bookcase after bookcase crammed with books and stretching to the ceiling. If she wasn't in some crazy madman's base, she'd take time to read the books.

But for now, she had work to do – mainly finding a map of this place, where Mephiles was and what he wanted.

Isis wandered throughout the library, admiring the fancy bookcases and wood-paneled walls, the smell of old paper and the glittering scrolling words on the spines of the books. "_A Darker Type of Magic_, _101 Ways to Control Demons_, _The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Magical Crystals_…this Mephiles has some pretty sweet stuff. If he wasn't trying to kill me, I would have to join him."

Isis ended up in the center of the room, where a large desk, made out of the same wood as the small table, was sitting in the middle of an open area, surrounded by piles of books. Another fancy velvet chair, but this one brown, sat close to it, but slightly at an angle like someone had pushed it away when they were standing up. A book was lying on the table – a bigger form of the one on the chair. It had black leather binding with pieces of silver to protect the corners, and a blood-red ribbon marking the place of the latest entry. _"Do I dare? Totally!"_ Isis crept forward and sat on the edge of the desk. She then made note of how the book was placed, pulled it into her lap and started to read.

It turned out that the ribbon wasn't actually placed at the end of the book, but close to it.

XXXXXXXXX

_June 7th_

_Pit and the others are doing pretty well in their investigation. I think I'll have to hint some more at the angel's fate._

_Addendum: Even though I didn't know much about Ike, it worked like a charm. Pit completely believes Ike was molested as a child._

"And that accomplished what, may I ask? And who are these two anyways? Ok then…next page."

_June 8th_

_I've been working more on my illusions. Once L.A. gets here, if I can make him believe he's my sex slave…oh, the fun we will have."_

"A city as a sex slave? Alrighty then, have fun…ok this book is all about random crap, skip skip skip…oh, here's something interesting…"

_June 23rd_

_My little angel is now seventeen. I haven't written for some time…I don't understand – how could my illusion fail? I had Pit in the right state of mind, L.A. was still frightened of me…what went wrong?_

_I have the proper method memorized by heart. First, you have to get someone close to the victim's age in the position you want to make the victim believe in. Then, when the victim arrives, you act weak so they believe they'll be alright. And as soon as their defenses go down, you strike – you place the ideas in the head of the other into the victim. While normally sex memories like these are only temporarily there, when thoughts of another are placed into one's mind you can't get them out. Then all I had to do was steal L.A. away, fuck him a bit more – and he'd have been all mine. Then, I could have convinced him he was my apprentice and I could have ruled his planet once and for all!_

"Another world domination plot? Yippee…hey, there's more…someone needs to vent…"

_But, it didn't work that way. L.A. resisted the thoughts and actually bit off my dick – fucking little hedgehog._

"That's hilarious! But a hedgehog? Who's Mephiles talking about?"

_I went to all this trouble to first convince Tabuu to help me, take over Wario's mind, actually rape that bloody hedgehog, and then start planting ideas into Pit's head – all of this trouble for nothing! I used so many damn illusions on that angel to make sure he'd have nothing but sex on his mind – I sent dreams to him, I made a shadow of myself attack him in the shower, hell I even faked one of his friends to tell him a fake story which he bought – _

"Holy cow – this guy can actually make solid illusions? Hell, the only person I know who can do that is Sun, and she rarely does it because it takes up so much energy! But…holy cow…this guy really wants this hedgehog. Who is it, anyways?"

_and it didn't fucking work! It wasn't enough! Why didn't it work? _

"Well, I dunno. Don't ask me! I wonder if there's any more about these illusions – I want to know more. Ah, here we go…"

_August 12th_

_I finally got that fucking silver hedgehog and purple cat away from me. Those bitches won't stop me again. Now I can plan in peace._

_I tried the illusion with these two. Silver is convinced he offered his body up to me in order to save Blaze – and Blaze believes it too. This time I planned less and didn't use as many illusions, yet it worked. So why didn't L.A. believe me? I got the scenario correct and the timing right in both situations…but Sonic didn't believe me!_

"Sonic? Hold on a second…this can't mean that Mephiles…"

_I fucked that blue hedgehog until he screamed; I made him cry – something even Eggman couldn't do – yet I can't get a fucking illusion, my specialty, to work on him?_

"Mephiles _raped_ Sonic? Poor, poor Sonic…now I'm on a major guilt trip from sending his friend into a coma…there's got to be more on his plans! Why is Mephiles here?"

_September 27th_

_I've scoured and read every single book in my library, yet few offer me insights on how to correct this problem. However, one titled _Masters of Illusions_ speaks of a woman named Sun who apparently can conjure any illusion possible. She's spent years and years practicing, but this book speaks of her in many time periods. Perhaps she even has the ability to bend reality itself!_

_I must know how she can do these things. But no book or internet site mentions where she is. The only thing I know is that she lives on an island known as Star-something – but she isn't there half of the time, and the island has many wards disallowing visitors. As well, she has eight powerful friends – including a speedster named Meteor. If I had those two at my side, I'd get that hedgehog once and for all! _

"Too bad for you, bitch – I'm one of her friends. Although, since I can't contact her…bah – you're too evil. She won't help you! Come to think of it, am I in here somewhere?"

_November 6th_

_I found out about the panther. She is mentioned in a book of master psychics – a girl named Isis who is friends with Sun. And fancy this – Meteor is her father! Could it be she has the power of super speed too?_

"No."

_Psychics are weak against ghosts. If I can get rid of her, her death will signal her other friends that something's wrong. When Sun and Meteor come, I'll convince them that Sonic and his friends killed Isis – and to bring Sonic to me._

"Very crafty, I must say – but I don't die that easily. Well, here's the last page."

_November 7th_

_Just past midnight. I sent the ghost after Isis. I highly expect she'll destroy it – but she'll be on her guard now. I'm sure those fools can figure out that the panther and Isis are the same being. It could be Silver just as much as me who sent the ghost after her – Silver may be a psychic, but he does have the potential to summon spirits too. Isis won't know where to turn…and then she'll stay out of this. I have to get Sun on my side – perhaps Meteor too, if I can – for I need to know what I did wrong with the illusion. Sun's the only one who can help me…_

_But, if I can't do that, I'll go to plan two…_

XXXXXXXXX

"Plan two? What's that?" Isis flipped past the page, but the rest of the pages were empty.

"You'll see…" Isis let out a small squeak and dropped the book. It landed with a dull thud on the floor. Mephiles was leaning against one of the bookshelves, glaring at Isis. The psychic dropped to the floor and put her hands on her blades; ready to draw them out.

"Oh, hello Mephiles. Nice place you got here."

"Cut it, Isis. Who sent you here? Sonic?"

"I came myself. Old Mac was pretty easy to convince."

Mephiles snarled, "So he's still around?"

"No, I let him go. But what's all of this – trying to get my best friends to fight for you? Bullshit! Where did you read about Sun anyways?"

"Right here," Mephiles replied, reaching into the shelf beside him and pulling out a thick book with a bright blue cover. He started to walk towards Isis, who quickly moved so the desk was in between the two of them. Mephiles dropped the tome on the table and pushed it over to Isis, "Take a look."

Isis cautiously flipped open the cover. The book was old and the pages were slightly stained, but the words were still legible. It was all about important illusions and how to use them – even some masters of illusions who could actually convince entire cities to turn against one another. And the book called Sun the most powerful of them all.

"You know, Mephiles," Isis coolly said while pushing the book back to him, "I've seen some of your stuff, and you're strong. Why deal with these illusions? You seem to be capable of summoning demons and controlling them quite nicely – so why bother?"

"Illusions and diamonds, Isis – both last forever." Mephiles started to pace on one side of the desk while Isis watched, "An illusion like the thought swapping one can only be controlled and broken by its caster. All minor illusions and most major illusions and attacks can be countered – but not the hardest of them all. I don't suppose you've read _Kilie's Chronicles_, have you?"

"I have, if you really need to know."

"Ah, well, I suppose you are familiar with his way of casting?"

"Quite much so."

"Ah, yes – the idea of combining mind power with reality and twisting it into what you desire. And the mind power doesn't have to be your own – that's the idea behind thought swapping. Has Sun ever performed such a trick?"

Isis hissed, "She would never perform such evil magic."

"What's so evil behind it?"

"What do you think, dumbass – you have to cause a lot of suffering to get what you want."

"But the illusion is unbreakable, yes?"

"To most, I suppose."

"Yes, well – what do you mean by 'to most'?"

"I know how to counter it. And I know why your spell didn't work on Sonic."

"What? You do?" Mephiles stopped pacing, walked back to the table and slammed his fists on it, "Tell me!"

"Dude, I read your journal – not gonna happen."

"Your Sonic's friend, aren't you?"

"Actually, I'm probably quite high on his hit list right now. I'm neutral in this fight so far."

"But you won't come with me."

"True, but I could just leave this planet as well. You don't know me. And books lie often too."

"They have to go past publishers."

"Take any religious book, for example. While the one religion believes it's right, everyone else thinks it's a pack of lies. By logic in the stories only one book should be right – but they all got past publishers, now didn't they?"

"Don't change the subject!"

"I didn't – I'm just making a point. Qut'ze'n'ith, Sonmuson, Kilibesek…all religious books that are wrong, I'm sure. Especially because they all have paradoxes, and someone divides by zero in the second one."

"I never heard of any of those."

"You live under a rock, then – literally and metaphorically. Not surprisingly – you don't have any balls, literally and metaphorically."

"That does it!" Mephiles' eyes started to glow black, "Tell me or I'll eliminate you!"

"Good luck with that, pal. And fuck you." Isis turned and started to walk casually away, keeping her psychic eye on Mephiles.

Isis ducked once Mephiles shot his shadow ball – and Isis couldn't help but stare in shock at the damage it did to the wall. The wall basically imploded; there was a huge black splotch, and the magic was swirling around like a whirlpool...if she got hit with one of those things…

"I won't miss this time, Isis!"

Isis managed to roll behind a bookshelf to dodge the next attack. She ran through multiple rows of books and then leaned against one.

"Ok, I don't know what powers he has – and although I rarely run from a fight, I can't risk losing the information in this library – I'll need to come back later. This isn't over!" Isis grabbed the crystal skull, "I just need an object of power I can teleport to…um…"

A sudden blast sounded just inches away from Isis, and she could feel the warmth from the magic on her cheek. Isis stood up and ran again, just as another shadow ball hit the place where she had been standing.

"Um, uh…I don't know! The only powerful items I have are with me, and I can't teleport to my current location!" Isis ran past a clock that read six in the morning – with any luck, they'd be asleep…

"Ok, here I go!" Isis held the skull tightly and thought of the white gem she had given to Sonic. The magic swirled around her, and she was gone.

The shadow ball Mephiles had fired missed. Once the magic lights dispersed, Mephiles cursed at Isis' disappearance. She had teleported out and could be anywhere now.

"Well, no matter…" Mephiles smiled, picking up the indigo book from his chair, "As long as she doesn't have this, I'm quite safe…"

XXXXXXXXX

Isis tumbled onto the hospital floor, rolled into a somersault and sat up, panting. What a night – she had no sleep and didn't get a single person to spin the wheel!

"_Oh, wonderful,_" Isis said in her native language; she often spoke the language of other planets because she traveled so much, and only converted back when she was speaking with someone from her world or when she was tired, _"I'm exhausted, Mephiles is fucking pissed at me, and…"_

Isis then looked up to see quite a crowd staring at her. Tails was still sound asleep in his bed, but everyone else – four hedgehogs, a cat, an echidna and a bat were all looking at her. And none of them looked happy.

"_Oh dear…bad timing indeed…"_

Everyone gave Isis a strange look when she said the words in her language. The blue hedgehog then got up from his chair by Tails and walked over to Isis, pushing his way through the rest of the crowed. His sapphire fur was rumpled and his eyes were bloodshot. He was shaking slightly from exhaustion and looked ready to fall asleep standing up – but his eyes clearly told Isis that he was ready to chase her until the ends of the earth for hurting his friend.

"Hello, Isis…" Sonic snarled, glaring at her. His emerald eyes were snapping and awake, even if the rest of him wasn't yet.

Isis gulped slightly, nearly swallowing her gum, and then replied in his language, "Hello, Sonic."

_**I'm just going to leave it off right there for now. I'll try to update sooner next time!**_


	6. Plan Two

Isis slowly got to her feet, all the while keeping a close eye on the mad blue hedgehog in front of her. When standing up she was a good two feet taller than the other occupants in the room, but Isis knew size didn't truly matter when it came to a fight.

Sonic took a step closer to the psychic, unfazed by his larger opponent. "You – hurt – my – best – friend," Sonic growled, "You – will – pay!"

Isis held up her hands in front of her, hoping to keep the hedgehog from striking, "Wait a minute, Sonic! I'm on your side!"

"On _my_ side? Then why is Tails in a coma, near death!" Sonic pointed to the fox on the bed, "Allies don't do that to one another!"

"I…um…I can explain?" Isis stuttered, a little surprised at how mad Sonic was.

"You've got ten seconds before I rip you to pieces!" Sonic snarled.

Knuckles came up beside Sonic and placed his hand on the hedgehog's shoulder, "Chill, Sonic. Let's give her a chance."

Sonic whipped his head around and snapped, "Tails is _dying_ because of her! How can I give her a chance?"

"Because we're going to need all of the help we can get fighting Mephiles," Blaze replied, "Let's hear her out."

"I don't care what she can do! I'll defeat Mephiles myself!"

"Sonic, just listen…" Amy whispered.

"No, he's right. You guys can't trust me." Everyone looked at Isis, who had lowered her arms to her sides, "I should just go. Tails will be alright, I promise you that. Besides, it's not like you guys care that Mephiles is a master of illusions and that he's tricked all of you and others into believing disturbing things…"

"Whoa, hold on a second! What are you talking about?" Silver tipped his head to the side, confused.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter. I'll just go…"

"Oh no, you don't!" Shadow grabbed Isis' arm as she tried to exit the room. He shut the door and then turned her around, "We need to hear this too. Every bit of information we can get counts."

Isis sighed, and then leaned against the door, "Alright, I'll tell you. But really now, let me say this from the start – I'm on your side now, honest! We just got off on the wrong foot, so…" Isis took a deep breath, "I'm Isis, and I use psychic abilities and some darker magic as my main powers. I'm thirteen and live on Starlight Isle. Nice to meet you all."

"I'm Amy, and this is Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge, Silver, Shadow and Blaze." Amy pointed to everyone in turn, "And the fox is Tails."

Isis nodded, "I'll remember that. So, you guys a team or something?"

"Friends, really. We don't always team up in a big group like this."

"So Mephiles must really be a big deal to you all, right?" Amy nodded. "May I ask why?"

Amy sighed, "It's classified information."

Isis said nothing, but seemed to accept the explanation, "Alright, then…so, you want the short version or the long version?"

"That depends," Knuckles replied, "What's the short version?"

"Mephiles is one fucking perverted monster who is planning to take over your world with illusions and wants to get my friends to join him – that's the short version."

"Um…maybe you should give us the long version…"

"Right…" Isis ranted off her expedition into Mephiles' base and what she read in the book. Once she got to the part about Sonic being raped however, she knew she had made a mistake. Sonic changed from angry to scared, and the others looked worried. Rouge, however, was shocked.

"Sonic…you were raped by Mephiles?" Rouge whispered, looking at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic turned away from everyone and stared at the wall. "Yeah…and I don't like to talk about it," he whispered.

Isis winced, more guilt piling up in this mission, "Sorry, Sonic…but I thought you would want to know everything…"

"It's alright," Sonic said, cutting her off, "Just go on."

Isis then told the group about thought swapping and how it failed with Sonic, but not with others. Silver and Blaze were stunned when they heard that Mephiles had tricked them, and everyone was confused when Isis spoke of her friends. When the psychic finished, Rouge asked, "So…why are you here when your friends aren't?"

The psychic sighed, "It's complicated…"

"We're not going anywhere, hon. Feel free to keep chatting."

Isis smiled, "I like you already. Well, there are nine of us, and we're a team, so we save our part of the universe and stuff…no need for details. Anyways, in our latest mission we're trying to stop this ancient ritual known as the 'Tortured Angels' Conjuration of Damnation', but it requires spells on these scrolls known as 'Distant Arch-angel's Tomes' to stop it. But they went missing a long time ago and no one knows where they are…except for this one person. Her name is 'Theifsoul The Crafty' and she, well, steals souls…look; long story short she'll only give us the location of the scrolls if we each go out and get one hundred people to spin a little wheel. When bad things happen, her psychic eye grows stronger and she'll be able to locate the scrolls we need. I know I seem like a complete asshole because I'm running around making people miserable, but if we don't stop this ritual there won't be anybody left around to be miserable!" Isis took a deep breath after the long rant.

"Ok…so, why this planet?" Silver asked.

Isis shrugged, "Meh, they're all the same to me! I just chose this place at random! Everyone else is in other random places. We didn't pick and choose."

"So you're not in league with Mephiles?" Sonic questioned.

"I already told you – I'm not! He wants Sun, and he'll probably hurt her. She's my friend. He'll only get her over my dead body!"

"What about Meteor? Your…father, you said?" Shadow asked.

Isis nodded. "Yep, my dad…he's a speedster like Sonic and you, but neither me nor my sister inherited the ability. He reminds me a lot of you Sonic," Isis turned to face the blue hedgehog while she spoke, "Both of you are carefree, wild and with just the right amount of stupidity. Although in his case, it's probably insanity. You'd like him. As soon as he hears of you, I bet he'll come and challenge you to a race."

Sonic finally perked up for the first time in two days, "I like the sound of that."

"I thought you would." Isis looked around the room, "So…is the interrogation over now, or what?"

"One last thing…" Sonic pointed to Tails, "Is he really getting super powers?"

Isis shrugged, "He should be – in fact, he should have woken up hours ago. I don't know what's going on…"

"Why bother actually handing out powers? You could just trick people – you seem to be good at that."

Isis moaned, "Because I don't want to seem like a bigger asshole than I already am. I'm quite nice – to my friends, anyways. I'm not as cruel as I seem to be."

"What kind of powers are they?"

"Psychic, I'd assume. Perhaps illusion, ghost, necromancy or fire powers – some of my minor abilities. I doubt dark powers because he seems more of a light type to me, but you never know."

Sonic nodded, and then looked back at Tails. Shadow then spoke, "Do you really know what went wrong with Mephiles' spell?"

Isis laughed, "Hardly! I just made that up so I could bullshit my way out of the situation. I honestly don't really know…although…" Isis frowned, "If I had more time to explore that library, perhaps I could come up with a logical conclusion. I don't know that much about thought swapping – that's Sun's territory, not mine."

"Then go back and look! I want to know what he's doing!" Sonic snapped.

"I can't! I don't know where the base is – I was only teleported there the first time. I'm sorry, but I can't help you with that…but I think I can break the illusion over Blaze and Silver."

Blaze shook her head, "It doesn't seem like an illusion to me."

Silver shuddered, "Yeah…I can still remember how he –"

"No, you can't! It's all fake! Here, let me show you…" Isis stepped towards Silver and placed her hands on either side of his head, "Now, just relax." Purple sparks snapped off her fingers into Silver's fur, and her Isis' eyes began to glow a dark purple. Silver's eyes became foggy, and he seemed to go into a trance. Isis whispered something under her breath, and then stepped away from Silver.

The white hedgehog shook his head back and forth and blinked, his eyes normal again. "Hey…it…it was fake! Unbelievable!"

"See? I told you!" Isis turned to Blaze, "Want me to show you?" Blaze nodded, and Isis did the same thing to the cat. "There," Isis said once she was finished, stepping back, "That's all over with. Now, my turn for a question…" Isis pointed to the white gem sitting on a small table beside Tails, "What is that thing?"

Everyone followed Isis' pointing. "That's a Chaos Emerald," Sonic answered, moving to pick it up, "There are seven of them, and the power changes based on the desires of the one who uses them."

"Interesting…" Isis mused, "Can everyone use them?"

"Yes, but some are better at drawing out their power than others."

"So, if someone like Mephiles got his hands on them…?"

"If he uses their power, it would be a disaster." Sonic put the gem back on the table, "Mephiles is looking for the Chaos Emeralds – I'm sure of it. He attacked the store, which was hiding this one…"

"Wait a second…wait a second! That's it! This is Plan Two!" Isis began to pace and mumble to herself, "Yes, yes…using their power…I'm sure of it!"

"What are you blabbing about?" Knuckles asked, crossing his arms.

"Plan Two! Mephiles had a back up plan, in case Sun wouldn't agree to work with him. The answer is the Chaos Emeralds!" Isis pointed to the white jewel, "Even with my conscience I was able to feel how much power that thing contained. If one was able to harness that power, and use an illusion, it would be unbreakable! The combination of power of gems and power of the mind, and then twisting reality! With one Chaos Emerald, a good illusionist probably could break the spell, but with all seven…he'd be able to completely warp all of your minds into working for him! With no heroes left, Mephiles will take over! And he won't stop there, oh, no no no…especially since I refused to work with him, he'll come after me, Sun, Meteor and the others!"

Isis slammed her hands on the wall, startling the group, and her back shook slightly. She then turned to face everyone with a fire in her lavender eyes, "This battle used to be only yours – but now, it's personal! Whether you like it or not, I'm with you!"

"Awesome!" Amy cheered, "You can dispel Mephiles' illusions, can't you?"

"Right now, I can, but if he gets all seven Chaos Emeralds then only Sun could stop him."

"How long should it take you to destroy one of his illusions now?" Shadow asked.

"Not long, I think. Less than a minute; depends on how complex it is and if I'm under attack. And how long it's been summoned…there are lots of factors, but I've had tons of practice. You can count on me! That ok with you, Sonic?" The last part was directed at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic nodded, "I guess you're with us…we need to get our hands on those Chaos Emeralds before Mephiles does. I wish Tails was awake…" Sonic looked sadly down at his unconscious friend.

Isis shook her head sadly, "Honestly, I don't know what's going on. By now he should have woken up…but he'll be ok – I know it. But let's get started on jewel hunting…how do we find these Emeralds?"

"Tails should have a tracker back at his lab…try there," Sonic replied.

"Why not just take the other Emerald?" Blaze asked.

"Why would that make a difference?" Isis snorted.

"Chaos Emeralds react to one another…"

"Oh…man, I wish Moon was here…he's an expert on gems. He'd come in real handy right now…"

"Your team certainly has its variety," Knuckles commented.

Isis giggled, "We're all one of a kind!"

"It's better if I stay with this Emerald. Mephiles must still think Amy, Shadow or Isis has it. He'll probably try looking for the others first," Sonic said, picking up the jewel again.

"Point taken…so, you're staying with Tails?" Knuckles asked.

"Yeah…the rest of you go and find the other Emeralds. I'm staying with him," Sonic whispered, taking a seat again.

Everyone glanced at one another, silent, and then someone knocked on the door. Isis then turned to Sonic and said, "Take care." She let the nurse into the room, and everyone except Sonic left to go on the jewel hunt. Sonic took Tails' hand once the nurse left and whispered, "Less than an hour left, Tails. Since that panther came, the time has been shortened for some reason…I wonder why…"

XXXXXXXXX

"So…this is it, right?" Isis asked, staring at the little device. It looked like a watch, in blue plastic-like material, except that instead of showing the time a little screen flashed up with green squares, and a blinking red arrow pointed north east.

"This isn't the first time we've searched for the Emeralds," Amy said, attaching the device to her wrist, "Tails is used to creating devices to help us."

"He must be quite the inventor, huh?" Isis looked around the workshop, crammed with machine parts, plans and tools, "Makes sense why he's so handy."

"So, where to first?" Blaze asked once the two came outside.

"Um…" Amy studied the map, "Looks like the one closest to us is about twenty miles from here…in a forest."

"Seriously? I think I camped out in those woods for a week and I didn't sense a thing!" Isis scratched the back of her head, "Maybe I'm not a very good jewel tracker."

"But this is," Amy said, tapping her wrist, "Even if you can't find the Emerald, this will!"

XXXXXXXXX

It was almost eight-thirty now. Sonic's eyes were getting heavier, but he forced himself to stay awake.

A shadow flickered in the corner of his eye, on his left. Sonic whirled to face the direction, but there was nothing. Then the shadow appeared near the window…but when Sonic turned to face it, there was nothing.

"I'm tired…I need to sleep…" Exhaustion was about to take over, but then Sonic saw a shadowy hand wrap around the Chaos Emerald. Sonic snapped awake and snatched the jewel away. Now he could clearly see something – a dark figure that looked like a human in structure, except there were no facial features or details – nothing that made a person a person. It was just pure blackness.

"You're with Mephiles, aren't you?" Sonic growled, "And you want the Emerald."

The figure hissed, even though it didn't have a mouth, and then snatched the gem away from Sonic and slipped out the door. Sonic was on his feet and chasing the monster within milliseconds.

XXXXXXXXX

"How much longer?" Isis asked, yawning.

"Be patient! We can't all run as fast as you," Blaze replied.

"Then why can't I go on ahead?"

"Because you don't really know what a Chaos Emerald looks like or how to deal with Mephiles…and if we get into trouble, it's better if we're in a group," Silver replied.

"Ok, first off I can sense the Emeralds when I'm close, second I know how to fight in any situation, and third I can take on whole armies by myself, and the rest of you will still be in a group."

"You sure knew how to fight Mephiles in his library…" Shadow smirked.

"I only teleported away because if that place got destroyed I would have no way of finding out information! Mephiles was so focused on killing me that he wouldn't care what happened to his books!"

"Oh, sure…that's what they all say…"

"You want to put your money where your mouth is, hedgehog? I'll fight you!"

Rouge stepped in between the two, "Hey now, we're supposed to be on the same side…no fighting."

"Fine," Isis sighed, "So, why doesn't Shadow go on ahead?"

Shadow smirked again, "Can't. I give off energy very similar to the Chaos Emeralds – I'd mess up the tracker if I moved at a high speed."

"Why do you do that? Aren't you just some ordinary hedgehog…with super powers and stuff?"

"Actually, I'm the Ultimate Lifeform…created by Dr. Gerald Robotnik."

"….so?"

"I was created, not born."

"…so?"

"It makes me different from other beings, ok?"

"…so?"

"You really don't get it, do you?"

"Oh, I get it – I just don't see what the big deal is. Or care, for that matter." Isis then let the conversation drop, but she wondered, _"Created by a scientist, but not a monster? That's new…while I look at these Emeralds I want to learn more about Shadow too."_

XXXXXXXXX

Doctors and nurses pressed themselves against the wall and carts of supplies were sent flying as the blue hedgehog chased the dark figure down the hall. While the figure was fast, it wasn't near Sonic's speed, and it was only Sonic's exhaustion that kept him from catching up right away.

Sonic chased the jewel thief down to the first floor and then outside the back entrance to an empty lot across the street. The dark figure halted once it found that it was surrounded by a tall wooden fence on every side, and its only escape root was blocked by a blue hedgehog.

"Alright…now give me back that Emerald!" Sonic pounced of the figure and wrapped his arms around its shoulders while his hands latched onto the Emerald. The dark thing shook back and forth, trying to throw Sonic off, and it succeeded – with the Emerald in Sonic's hands, though.

Sonic landed on his feet and then turned to face the dark figure, "Time to finish this off!" With the Emerald, one spin dash sent the creature flying.

"Ha! You'll have to do better than that, Mephiles!" Sonic turned to head back into the hospital, but then he found himself surrounded by a couple dozen of the dark humanoids, effectively blocking his path.

"Ok…that's definitely better…"

XXXXXXXXX

Tails was still enjoying the scenery Isis had created for him. Right now he was content, and didn't want to wake up just yet…he knew he had to, and he would, but right now he was happy where he was…

The fox sighed and stretched out on the soft green grass, watching the blue sky overhead, "What a nice place…just a few more minutes and then I'll try these powers out…whatever they are…"

The sky suddenly turned dark in a second, and a bolt of lightning flashed down. Tails rolled out of the way just before it struck the spot he had been lying on. The wind picked up and howled in his ears, and it began to pour. Leaves and branches were hurled around by the violent winds, and thunder boomed up in the dark clouds.

"What's going on?" Tails shouted, more to himself than the sky.

"_Tails, help!"_ A voice sounded in the distance.

"Sonic?" Tails whispered.

"_I can't do this alone! Help me, Tails! He's going to take me away again!"_

Tails sat upright in his hospital bed, not acknowledging where he was, "I'm coming, Sonic!" He ripped out the IVs and took off the oxygen mask, and when his careless actions knocked over a glass of water by his bed he picked it up – without touching it – and lightly settled it back on the table.

The fox then leaped out of bed and ran out of the room, not even caring that the door opened just with his thoughts.


	7. Monkey, Magic and Mind

Sonic was breathing heavily now, his eyes already threatening to close. Why did he have to stay awake for so darn long? Now he was tired and definitely not fighting fit…

The blue hedgehog rolled backwards and came up on the balls of his feet. It was hard for him to focus on any of the targets, and with them being basically black blurs he was having a lot of trouble hitting them. Dodging, he was alright, but of course that would only help him for so long.

Sonic ducked under a black arm, then reached up, grabbed the elbow and flung the creature over his head. The black shadow slammed into two others, knocking all three back, but immediately another four took their places. "Oh, come on! How many of these guys are there?" Sonic twisted his head from side to side, looking at all of the creatures. Most of the humanoid-shaped shadows had no facial features, but now a few began to have brown, glowing eyes, staring at the Chaos Emerald. Sonic clutched the gem tighter in his hand and growled, "No way. I will not let you have it!"

Another creature lunged forward, but with a swift kick Sonic knocked it back. The creature skidded along the ground, and then began to become even more blurry. Sonic rubbed his eyes, thinking that the blurriness was from lack of sleep, and then his eyes became wide when the creature separated into two. "Oh great," Sonic muttered to himself as he dodged another arm, "I'll be overrun soon if I don't think of something!"

XXXXXXXXX

Silver focused on another sand-colored boulder and flung it to the side with his psychic abilities. The huge rock sent up a cloud of dust as it landed on the dirty soil. Silver wiped his forehead with his arm and looked around. Everyone else was looking for the Emerald in this rocky desert, but so far nobody had come up with anything.

Blaze appeared on top of the rock pile Silver was currently looking through, "Nothing here." She slid down next to the silver hedgehog, "At this rate, we'll be searching for ages."

Silver nodded in agreement, looking at the piles of sand and brown rocks all around them, a good twenty feet high apiece, and the blue, cloudless sky overhead. The ground beneath Silver's feet was solid rock, but covered with sand that crunched under his shoes as he walked over to Amy.

"Are you sure it's here?" he asked the pink hedgehog, coming up beside her.

"Yes! Take a look for yourself!" Amy showed her wrist to Silver, and she was right – the Emerald was around here, somewhere.

"We've been searching for a good hour; it's almost noon and really hot out. Maybe we should take a break," Silver sighed, kicking a small rock by his feet, "Maybe Mephiles isn't after the Emeralds anyways. Perhaps Isis is wrong."

"Maybe I am wrong," Isis said, coming up behind the two along with Shadow, "But we can't take that risk. If I am right and he does get those gems…"

"You know, maybe this is all a trick. If he gets us to gather the Emeralds, it'd save him a lot of trouble," Shadow added, looking up into the sky.

Isis nodded, "Maybe. Hard to say."

"Hey, I found it!" All three hedgehogs turned to look, while Isis squinted off into the distance. Odd…she thought she could see something out there, coming closer…

Shadow was beside Knuckles in an instant. A blue gem was caught between two rocks, the others around them smashed by Knuckles' fists.

The black hedgehog smiled, his teeth glinting in the sunlight, "Having trouble there, Knuckles?"

Knuckles was tugging on the Chaos Emerald, but it was firmly stuck in the crack. He shrugged, and then smashed his fist into the rocks, crumbling them and allowing him to pull the gem free, "Not anymore." Everyone except Isis, who was still staring at the horizon, came over.

"Well, now we have two. That's pretty good for such a short period of time…" Silver looked at the gem, and then back at Isis, "Hey, Isis! What are you doing?"

"Is it just me, or is there something out there, and coming closer?" Isis asked, pointing at a shape in the distance, "I can't seem to focus on it."

Rouge landed beside Isis and looked as well, "It definitely is coming closer…and it kind of looks like a giant, metal monkey…"

XXXXXXXXX

Tails followed his instincts and ran outside to the empty lot. The lot was surrounded by a tall wooden fence. The entrance seemed to be blocked by a wall made of shadows, and the entire perimeter was surrounded by black shapes. There seemed to be no way past them. But Tails could hear Sonic attacking – the high-pitched whirl of the spin dash was hard to ignore; and each time the sound was getting weaker.

"How do I get in?" Tails looked back and forth, but there were no holes for him to duck through. "Well, I guess there's only one option…" Tails took a deep breath, and ran straight at the shadows.

The creatures were startled and moved out of the way, allowing Tails to get into the center of the lot. Sonic was surrounded by three more shadows, too busy dodging attacks to retaliate or notice his friend.

"Sonic!" Tails called out, waving.

Sonic turned around, distracted. "Tails?" He said once he finally noticed the fox, his eyes going wide, just before being smashed in the chest and knocked down.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Tails looked back and forth, trying to find a weapon of some sort, finally noticing a pile of crates stacked on a warehouse roof only two buildings down. Tails wasn't quite conscious of what he was doing – one minute he was focusing on the crate, commanding it to rise, and in the next two shadows were sent sprawling in a heap of gravel and wood.

Sonic took this time to fling the other creature off of him, sending it against the wooden wall. It slumped to the ground, stunned. The other shadows were also holding off on attacking, seemingly confused on what to do now that there were two fighters instead of one.

Tails was looking around, trying to figure out what the heck was going on when a pair of arms wrapped around his chest and twirled him around. "Tails! You're ok!" Sonic smiled, and kept spinning, "I was so worried!"

The fox couldn't help but laugh, for Sonic wasn't one to give out a lot of hugs, let alone enthusiastic ones. Those were basically reserved for Cream and Tails. "Alright Sonic, I'm happy to see you too! But you're making me dizzy!"

"Whoops, sorry!" Sonic stopped spinning and set Tails straight, "So, what powers did you get?"

Tails cocked his head to the side, confused, "Powers? What powers?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the shadows seemed to come back to life, like they had just figured out what to do. They all hissed together, sounding like a giant snake, and started to advance. Sonic and Tails moved back to back, something Sonic had before only done with Knuckles and Shadow. Two particular creatures were slightly farther ahead than the rest of the group, and lunged ahead of the rest. Immediately they were sent flying by another crate.

Sonic nodded towards the pile of monsters and broken wood, "Those powers!"

"I…I don't know…" Tails didn't have any more time to think about it, for the horde was now upon them.

XXXXXXXXX

"You're right, Rouge. It's a monkey." Isis tried to focus on the creature, "A giant, metal monkey. Friend of yours?"

"No."

"Friend of Mephiles?"

"Probably." Rouge turned and looked at the others, "Hey, Knuckles! Be ready to protect that gem – company's coming!"

"Oh great," Shadow muttered, moving beside the bat, "Maybe Mephiles is setting us up after all."

"Hang on – I'm starting to be able to see it clearer…" Isis' eyes began to glow purple as she focused, "It's, like, mostly silver metal…but has a purple face, hands and neck, and its feet are metal, looking like they aren't finished yet. It has a silver metal mask on the lower half of its face, and a spike on its forehead, and rocket launchers on its back, and it's using jet thrusters to move…sound familiar?"

"No..." Rouge replied, and Shadow shook his head. Rouge turned back to the others again, "Did you guys catch that?"

"Yeah, but I have no idea," Blaze replied while Silver and Knuckles also shook their heads.

"Hold on," Amy said, her brow scrunched up from thinking, "I might recognize it…it…" Amy ran forward, looking at the creature approaching them, "It'll be here soon."

Isis shrugged, "So? There's seven of us. We can take it."

"I know but…" Amy looked closely at the metal thing approaching them, "It kind of looks like one of the trophies Sonic has from Brawl…which one was it again…I think Galleom."

"That thing? But Sonic never fought him for real," Knuckles said, tossing the Emerald up in the air and catching it again, "Why would Mephiles have it?"

"He worked with Tabuu. Must have taken the design," Shadow responded, shielding his eyes from the sun to take a better look.

Isis looked back and forth from Amy, to Knuckles, to Shadow, and then sighed, "Ok, I really wish I had read more of that journal. I'm super confused."

"You don't need any more info other than beat it up," Shadow replied. The creature was moving quickly and would be at their location within a few minutes.

"Sounds like a plan," Isis responded, slipping a throwing dagger into her hand, "I'm always up for a fight."

XXXXXXXXX

"Is it just me, or are these things multiplying?" Tails asked, barely managing to dodge two creatures at the same time.

"I wish it was just you," Sonic muttered, punching another shadow in the gut. With the adrenaline rushing through his veins, at least he was slightly more awake. "I don't know how to stop them," Sonic sighed, dodging another arm, grabbing it, and then throwing the creature into four others, "No matter how many times I hit them, they don't die."

After another dodge, Tails was too low to the ground to move again. One of the creatures lifted its arm up, made a fist and thrust down, but Tails summoned a psychic barrier to deflect the attack. Sonic shook his head at the sight – Tails didn't seem to realize what he was doing; it was all reflexive.

"There's got to be something that hurts them. They can't be invincible – we're hitting them," Tails smashed another crate into the mob, but when turned back to the roof, he realized all of his ammunition was gone. "Uh…Sonic? See anything I can throw?"

"Um…" Sonic scanned the area quickly; afraid if he let his eyes wander for too long he'd gain another bruise. "There!" Sonic said, pointing at an oil drum sitting inside the warehouse, "Those should last longer!"

Tails nodded and tried to focus, but one of the shadows stepped on his foot. The fox let out a small yelp before kicking the creature in the shin. He then slammed his elbow into another, and while still holding the two monsters back he turned to the oil drum. The drum flew through the window, shattering the glass and wooden frame. Tails flung the drum into the mob, pushing the creatures back. Sonic was right – the metal drum was definitely a better weapon than the crates, and didn't shatter as easily.

Eventually, however, something punctured the lid, and a liquid began to pour out of the barrel. The light brown liquid gushed onto the creatures, and had a sharp smell that stung Tails' nose.

"Ugh! What is that?" Sonic asked, bringing his arms together to block an attack.

"I don't know, but whatever works!" That drum soon was empty, and too light. Tails simply threw it into the crowd, and then focused on another barrel. The process repeated another two times, all within a matter of ten minutes. The creatures didn't seem to mind being covered in it, but Tails and Sonic were careful not to get splashed by any of the odd liquid.

Which was good, for their sakes – for the unknown liquid coating the shadows was lighter fluid. One small spark, and the whole lot would burst into flames.

XXXXXXXXX

"That's Galleom, all right," Amy said once the monster came fully into view, "He's not on our side."

"Fantastic," Isis sighed, "Ah, whatever. So, how do we beat it?"

"I think all we have to do is keep hitting him, and try not to get hit ourselves."

"Some strategy," Isis snorted, "Isn't there a weak point or something?"

"If there is, Sonic is probably the only one who knows it. We'll have to try our best."

"Fine, fine. So, who's in charge of the Emerald?"

"Amy is," Knuckles said, coming up from behind and tossing the Emerald to the pink hedgehog, "I want to fight this thing."

"Well, here it is. Wish come true," Isis said, to herself as much as Knuckles.

Galleom was finally within attack range, and now landed on his feet. He looked exactly like Isis had described him earlier, although seemed to be slightly bluer than the original creation. The mechanical monster stood up, towering over the group. His eyes began to shine an odd, copper color. He pounded his fists on his chest, but otherwise simply stood there.

"…so, does it do anything else?" Isis said after about a minute.

"Looks like he's waiting for something," Knuckles commented.

Shadow nodded in agreement, "He's waiting for a command."

Galleom's eyes began to spark, and then the monster thrust its right hand forward, reaching for Amy. Knuckles slammed it aside, and Galleom retaliated with his left arm, pushing the echidna back. Amy and Silver stepped back, out of the creature's range, while Shadow and Blaze went behind the monster to see if they could find a weak point on its back.

Rouge kicked Galleom on the side of his head, her foot making contact with the metal plates. While she did bend the metal a little, it didn't do a lot of damage. Galleom simply tried to swat the bat aside like a fly, but Rouge was too quick and dodged the attack. Isis took the time to fling her throwing knife at the monster's eyes, impaling the two-inch blade completely into the flesh just below the right eyeball. Galleom let out a roar that sounded like wind rushing through a metal pipe, and swung at the psychic, who quickly dropped to her stomach. She was going to stand up, but Galleom brought a fist down and Isis had to roll to the side instead. Galleom kept pounding the ground near Isis, and then finally brought both of his fists together and slammed down, sending a shockwave at the psychic.

The waves interrupted her focus, and Isis was left stunned. The world was spinning around, and she shakily got to her feet. Galleom was still upset about the dagger, and hit Isis hard in the gut, knocking her back a good ten feet. "This thing packs a hell of a punch," Isis panted as Knuckles helped her stand up again, "I think Amy's idea was correct – keep attacking and don't get hit."

"Isn't that the basis of all fights?" Knuckles replied, looking back at Galleom. Shadow had jumped on top of the monster's head and Galleom was shaking violently, trying to throw him off. Suddenly, the monster straightened up and began to twirl, causing a whirlwind that threatened to drag the two fighters in.

"Whoa!" Isis gasped, bracing herself against the ground while Knuckles dug his fist into a nearby rock, "I never saw something that big twist like that!"

Shadow was thrown off, but landed upright just fine. Galleom turned slightly, aimed his cannons and fired four missiles at Shadow. The black hedgehog was too quick, however, and within seconds was back on the monster's shoulders. Immediately the creature started twisting from side to side, and Shadow was forced to grab onto the huge spike on Galleom's forehead in order to stay on.

Because Galleom was so occupied with Shadow, Blaze and Rouge found it easy to hit the monster. Together they managed to tear off part of its back armor, leaving the purplish flesh exposed. With both fire and rapid kicks attacking the space, Galleom was in deep trouble, surrounded on all sides – Isis and Knuckles in front, Shadow on top, and Blaze and Rouge behind. Silver and Amy stayed out of Galleom's range, just in case it was here for the Emerald. Galleom was getting frustrated, swinging his mechanical arms widely around, trying to hit the fighters and throw Shadow off.

The wild movements eventually made Shadow slip, and he quickly wrapped his hands tightly around the spike, trying to stay on. His feet were kicking against Galleom's face, trying to find some sort of foothold, but in the process Shadow hit the dagger and pushed it upwards, right into the eye.

Now Galleom was furious, and along with his arms he began firing missiles around, not even bothering to aim. The missiles hit the rock pillars, sending a shower of boulders and dust down on the battlefield, and making it a lot harder for anyone to get a hit. Galleom picked up the rocks and threw them at the fighters, as well as trying to hit Isis and Knuckles over the head with them.

"Fuck – this thing is crazy!" Isis snapped, blasting a rock with a psychic beam, "Does it have infinite ammo, or what?"

"I don't know, but it's not happy!" Blaze replied, ducking Galleom's fist and then shooting down two missiles with a fire ball, "I can't get a good hit on it!"

Shadow was the only one who was managing to do some damage – having basically given up on pulling himself upwards at the moment, he simply resorted to kicking the right side of Galleom's face. The flesh was becoming swollen from Shadow's constant poundings, and Galleom was unable to see out of his right eye.

Silver was deflecting the missiles away from Amy, but with Galleom so enraged he couldn't keep up a shield for long. Amy had to drop the Emerald to defend herself with her hammer, but she kept it close by her feet.

Galleom was starting to weaken, exerting so much energy on trying to hit the fighters, but missing most of the time. He shook his head around again, and this time spotted the Emerald. Galleom dropped the boulder in his right hand and shot out his hand on a long, metal cord, reaching for the Emerald. Silver reacted just in time – he managed to kick the gem out of the way, but in the process Galleom grabbed his leg and lifted the silver hedgehog over his head.

"Hey! Let me go, you crazy monkey!" Silver sent a psychic wave at Galleom, but with being waved around and Galleom's anger, the attack had little effect.

Amy scooped up the Emerald, but Galleom had seen the gem and now was completely focused on it. He reached for Amy again, but Knuckles held the hand back.

"Amy, toss it over here!" Isis called, waving from Galleom's side. Knuckles had to let go of Galleom so he could dodge a missile, and now the hand was reaching for Amy again. Amy took a deep breath and threw the gem to Isis, just as Galleom's left hand wrapped around her body.

Isis caught the Emerald and turned back to Galleom, "Hey, monkey! Lookie what I have!" Isis waved the jewel over her head, taunting Galleom, "You want it?" Galleom roared again, in the same metallic voice, and reached for Isis in the hand that contained Amy. Isis easily dodged the attack, for Galleom was trying to hold onto Amy and couldn't extend his fingers far out to grab her. "Catch me if you can!" Isis teased, backing away from Galleom.

"Damn it," Shadow growled, now managing to get himself back onto Galleom's shoulders. Galleom definitely was here to get the Emerald – and now Isis was baiting the monster with it. If Mephiles got his hands on that gem, everything would become ten times harder. Shadow shook his head, knowing that there was nothing he could do right now to make Isis quit teasing the mechanical beast. Besides, he was in the best position to free Silver and Amy. Shadow ran down Galleom's back and up the monster's right arm, slashing at the limb to make Galleom drop the silver hedgehog.

"You free Amy!" Shadow called to Rouge, running back towards the creature's head. Rouge didn't bother asking for an explanation and began to strike at Galleom's left hand.

Silver landed on his feet and shot another psychic blast, this time hitting Galleom on the left side of his face. Galleom shot two missiles at Silver and then shot his hand out at Isis, all the while advancing towards her.

Isis was doing multiple back flips, leaping over the missiles fired at her and teasing Galleom, showing how easily she could dodge his attacks. "Come on, you overgrown toaster! Show me what you got!" Galleom reached for Isis again, who dodged the hand. A stray missile brushed Isis' side, but she seemed not to care. Isis stood back up, grinned at Galleom, and kept backing away.

"What is she doing?" Knuckles asked, hitting the back of Galleom's knee joint. The monster fell to one knee, but immediately stood up and continued to follow Isis, holding Amy in the air like a trophy.

With one more powerful kick, Rouge set Amy free and then looked to where Isis was leading them. The land suddenly disappeared, like somebody had taken scissors and cut out part of the earth. The deep gorge was only about seventy yards away, and they were fast approaching it. "That's it! If we knock Galleom down that, this fight is over!" Rouge said, pointing at the crack.

"What?" Knuckles called back.

"Is that the plan, Isis?" Rouge called to the psychic, ignoring Knuckles for the moment.

Isis nodded, ducking another missile, "Yeah, but I'm gonna need yours and Shadow's help. This thing isn't going to fall so easily, and I can't stand on the edge of a huge cliff for long with stuff being fired at me."

Shadow nodded at Isis, silently saying that he got the message, before slamming his foot on the back of Galleom's head once again. The monster shook his head slightly, but kept moving towards Isis.

"Good…good…almost there…" Isis quickly checked over her shoulder, and then looked back at Galleom, "Come on, sucker, come on…" She picked up her speed, walking backwards so she could keep her eye on the mechanical primate. Galleom reached for Isis again, but the psychic did another back flip and dodged.

"Isis, don't move anymore! You're too close to the edge!" Isis looked at Amy, and then behind her. The psychic became a little nervous upon seeing the huge drop, but she wasn't going to show it.

"Shadow, come to my left side, Rouge, to my right. Hurry!" Isis took a few small steps back, but then felt the edge underneath her heels and couldn't move anymore.

Shadow stood farther away from the edge than Isis, out of Galleom's sight due to the monster's injured eye. Rouge hovered to Isis' right, in clear view of the monster.

"Ready?" Isis called, and when both nodded she said, "Go!" Isis then turned to Rouge and drew her arm back, preparing to throw the Emerald. Galleom saw this and reached out to grab Isis. Instead of dodging, Isis followed through with the throw, but didn't let go of the Emerald. Instead, she turned around and threw the Emerald to Shadow, just as Galleom picked her up and began crushing her.

"Shadow…run…Galleom…thinks…Rouge…has…the Emerald," Isis breathed out through the tightness around her chest, "Get…out…of…here!"

Rouge had been confused when the Emerald didn't come to her, but relaxed when she saw the blue gem in Shadow's hands. But instead of looking at the black hedgehog, Galleom turned to the bat. Because of Galleom's injured eye, he couldn't see well to his right. So when Isis pretended to throw the Emerald to Rouge, Galleom was certain the gem was there. He couldn't see that Shadow actually held it. Rouge cupped her hands and held them to her chest, pretending to be holding onto something, and then flew over Galleom. The monster roared and shot his arm out, trying to reach for Rouge.

"Run…Shadow…keep…the…Emerald…safe!" Isis gasped, struggling for breath, "Don't…worry…about…me…go!"

Shadow turned on his heel and dashed away, only checking back once to see if Galleom had noticed his absence. Galleom was still convinced Rouge had the Emerald and paid no attention to the missing black hedgehog. Shadow looked down at the blue gem in his hand; he couldn't risk using Chaos Control with that thing looking for the Emeralds. He'd have to get away on foot.

XXXXXXXXX

"At…least…they…are…not…multi….plying…any…more…" Tails panted, slamming an empty oil drum into the shadow humanoids. His couldn't pick up anything heavier – he had used up too much power before and was tired.

Sonic wasn't faring much better. The horde of creatures was so thick that he couldn't escape them and get into a better position, and besides he wouldn't leave Tails behind. He really needed to rest, but he couldn't stop fighting. Even with the power of the Emerald, these shadow creatures never stopped attacking.

"Is there no end to these guys?" Sonic shouted, kicking another two away, "Doesn't anything destroy them?"

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow was running back to the hospital through a different route, and he thought he had heard Sonic's voice. Curious, he followed the sound to the abandoned lot. Shadow saw the huge, moving black mass and screeched to a halt. His hover skates pushed hard on the ground to make the black hedgehog come to a stop, sending gravel and sparks into the air. One spark just happened to fly a little farther than the others.

The mass changed from black to red within seconds, as one creature after another ignited. They began to writhe in pain as the flames crawled up their sides. Hisses rose from the creatures, and black arms were raised to the sky as the shadows began to disintegrate.

Shadow simply stared at the dying creatures, confused about what the heck had just happened. However, inside of the lot, Sonic and Tails realized how much trouble they were in.

XXXXXXXXX

"That liquid was flammable! If we don't get out of here soon, we'll be on fire too!" Tails said, coughing.

"How? I can't tell where the exit is!" Sonic replied, dropping to his knees to get out of the smoke. He couldn't see anything but thick, black clouds of smoke, and once in awhile a red and orange flame outlining one of the shadows.

"Chaos Control!" Tails replied, covering his mouth with his tails.

"Right! I forgot about…" Sonic looked around him, "Tails, the Emerald! I must have dropped it!"

"We have to find it – otherwise we're done for!" Tails began crawling on the ground, eyes closed to keep out the smoke, moving his hands around to try and locate the Emerald.

XXXXXXXXX

"Sonic? You in there?" Shadow called out uncertainly. All he could see was smoke and odd, humanoid shadow creatures burning to death. Too bad he was only ageless and not completely invincible – otherwise he could run into the fire and check for Sonic. But with the whole place covered in burning shadows, it wouldn't be a good idea.

"Oh dear, this doesn't look so good." Shadow whirled around to see Mephiles floating about six feet off of the ground, cross-legged, "I do hope Sonic isn't too badly hurt after this. I would miss fucking him so very much."

"You!" Shadow growled, shifting his leg back to get ready to rush forward, "You caused this, didn't you?"

"Me? Oh no no no, Shadow…" Mephiles grinned, uncrossed his legs and floated down to the ground, "This wasn't quite part of the plan. Tails and you caused this; by accident, of course. I do hope that Sonic still has that Chaos Emerald – for it's going to be troublesome searching underneath all of that charred flesh at the end." Mephiles nodded towards the burning shadows.

"You don't even care if those creatures die, do you?" Shadow asked, baring his teeth.

Mephiles shrugged, "I can always make more. Hell, they even make copies of themselves – saves me the trouble. Now, why don't you hand over that Emerald and make this easy for both of us?"

Shadow blinked, and then straightened up. He held the blue gem out in front of him, "You want this?" Shadow asked, and when Mephiles took a step forward to grab it he shouted, "Then go and get it!" He turned around and tossed the blue emerald into the fire.

In a second, Mephiles was upon him, wrapping his arms around Shadow's waist and pinning the black hedgehog's arms to his sides. Shadow began to struggle, and Mephiles threw him to the ground. Shadow quickly stood up again, ready to fight Mephiles, only to get smashed in the face by a metal pipe. He fell back on the ground, and Mephiles followed the first blow with more.

Shadow quickly gained a headache and couldn't defend himself; his moves became sluggish and then stopped by the metal pipe. Again and again Mephiles hit Shadow with the pipe, breaking Shadow's nose and jaw. A cut on Shadow's forehead gushed out blood, running over his eyes and making it hard to see. Shadow knew he wasn't going to stay conscious much longer – his head was aching and his vision started to go dark. If Sonic was trapped in that fire or got attacked by Mephiles, Shadow wouldn't be able to do anything about it – all because Mephiles was too big of a coward to actually fight him.

"Fuck…you…" Shadow breathed, just as Mephiles put all of his strength in for one last strike. Shadow fell onto his side, pelt coated with blood; unable to sit up again. The last thing Shadow saw before becoming unconscious was Mephiles' look of triumph.

XXXXXXXXX

Galleom was badly damaged; the mechanical beast would not hold up much longer. A few more hits and they could send the boss tumbling over the edge.

Isis had been freed from Galleom's grasp, so now nobody was in danger of falling down the cliff along with the boss. Rouge flew over the canyon, keeping Galleom occupied on capturing her and less likely to attack the others.

Galleom shot his arm out at Rouge, who dodged it once again. Galleom was off balance, and started to lean over the edge.

Silver moved beside Isis and said, "Use a psychic wave! Let's end this!"

"Alright!" Isis nodded, "One, two, three!"

With one final push, Galleom was knocked off the cliff and sent tumbling down. Galleom roared one last time before disappearing into the canyon below.

As soon as Galleom fell over, Rouge landed beside Silver and Isis and sighed, "Glad that's over."

"Me too," Isis said, looking around, "Come to think of it, where did Shadow go?"

Rouge shrugged, "Back to the hospital would be my guess."

"Then let's head back too. I'm tired," Silver sighed, stretching.

Without warning, Galleom's hand suddenly appeared over the canyon ledge – a last chance to try and get the Emerald. Instead of grabbing onto Rouge, however, the hand wrapped around Knuckles and knocked him over. Knuckles started to be dragged towards the edge, and he was scrabbling at the rock, desperately trying to get a grip on the earth.

"Damn it! Knuckles!" Isis lunged forwards and managed to grab Knuckles' hand, but the weight of Galleom was too much for her to stop Knuckles from being pulled. "Somebody free him! I can't hold on much longer!" Isis called out, struggling to slow Knuckles down.

The steel cable attaching the hand to the arm, however, was too thick. Even a strong hit would do little damage. "Here," Isis tossed Blaze one of her short swords, "Start sawing!"

Blaze began hacking at the cable, and the cable started to give way. If she had a bit more time, the cable would have snapped, but they were too close to the edge. Isis stumbled at the last moment, letting go of the echidna, and Knuckles was pulled over.

"Fuck! How did Galleom reach so far?" Isis looked over the edge, "Shit! That bastard caught himself on one of the walls and now has Knuckles!"

"Not for long!" Rouge replied, leaping off the edge and flying down.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ow! What was that?" Tails muttered to himself, rubbing the top of his head. Something had come through the flames and hit him on the head, but Tails didn't see who had thrown it.

His knee bumped into an object and Tails reached behind him to grab a blue Chaos Emerald. "Sonic! I found it!" Tails looked around, eyes straining to see through the smoke, "Sonic?"

Sonic crawled over, following Tails' voice. "You found it!" Sonic grabbed the Emerald and Tails, and then said, "Chaos Control!"

The two were teleported right outside of the lot, and immediately started to gulp down the fresh air. "Alright – we made it out!" Sonic said, wiping his forehead. He then looked at the Emerald in his hand, "Hey, wait a minute…this isn't the Emerald I had earlier…"

"It isn't. That one was Shadow's." Sonic looked up and flinched, seeing Mephiles floating about ten feet away from him. The dark hedgehog grinned, seeing Sonic's reaction, "Hello again, Sonic. Did you miss me?"

"About as much as I would miss having cancer. What do you want?" Sonic growled, standing up.

Mephiles pointed to the Emerald, "That lovely gem right there. Of course, if you'd rather come with me instead I'd happily make that trade…"

Sonic felt the memories coming back, and his heart started to pound. Part of him was telling him to get the hell away from Mephiles, but his usual personality kicked in before he could take a step. He was going to make a comment about where Mephiles could stick the Emerald before he would even consider leaving with that freak, but Tails stopped him, "Sonic! Look at Shadow!"

Sonic looked at Tails, and his eyes went wide when he saw the black and red mess on the ground nearby. "Shadow!" Sonic called out, and seeing no response he turned back to Mephiles, "You bastard! What have you done?"

Mephiles shrugged and tossed a bloody metal pipe at Sonic's feet. The metal rung out when it hit the pavement, and Mephiles replied, "That's what your friend gets for interfering. All he had to do was hand over the Emerald, but no…" Mephiles sighed, "He had to throw it into the fire. Do you know how frustrating it will be to try and find that white one later?"

"You…you…" Sonic was starting to shake; he was so angry, "I'll kill you!"

Mephiles laughed, "You're too scared of me to hurt me, Sonic. As soon as I come close, you'll freeze up, and it'll be easy to take you away." Mephiles landed and started to walk towards Sonic.

Sonic forced himself to stand his ground, but his brain was practically screaming at him to run. Tails was too tired to be much help now; the fox stayed sitting on the ground, breathing heavily and coated with sweat and ashes. Sonic braced himself, ready to fight Mephiles, when a voice shouted behind him, "Hey! You!"

A black panther leaped over Sonic's head and landed right in front of him, letting out a low, threatening growl. If Mephiles was surprised, he didn't show it. He snarled, "Stay out of this, Isis. It's not your fight."

"It is mine, though!" Silver said, running up beside Sonic, "You tricked me before! You didn't do anything to me!"

This time Mephiles couldn't hide his shock, and he glared at Isis, "This is your entire fault, isn't it?"

Isis nodded, claws out and ready to slash Mephiles should he come any closer. Mephiles snarled, "So, you can dispel illusions, can you? Well, try and break _this_!"

A huge wave of water appeared out of nowhere and splashed down in front of the group; it began to swirl around the four standing together. Tails was too tired to take any notice, and Isis and Silver didn't truly care, but Sonic was terrified. Yes, he had conquered a big part of his aquaphobia – he could swim now, even though the only swimming style he had truly mastered was the doggy paddle – but being surrounded by violent, deep water still was enough to make him panic.

Sonic started backing away, looking from side to side to try and find and escape route. The water was gushing around like a giant whirlpool, and he was in the center of it. There was no way he could swim through that, and he was too tired to jump through. He was trapped.

The blue hedgehog had dropped the blue Chaos Emerald he had been holding and kept moving away from the walls of water. Suddenly his path was blocked, and he was turned around by Knuckles, "Sonic, it's an illusion! This isn't real!"

"Well, it certainly looks like it!" Sonic replied, still looking around, "Somebody, make it go away!"

As soon as he said those words, the water was gone. Sonic and Knuckles looked at Isis, who was back in her human form, and glowing purple. She was mumbling something under her breath, and when the last traces of the illusion disappeared she stopped and looked around. "Damn it – the bastard escaped."

"At least…not with…the…Emeralds…" Tails panted, pointing at the lot. Fire crews had finally arrived and were dousing the flames, but the flames were still too strong for Mephiles to have gotten through. The Chaos Emerald was buried somewhere underneath all of the charred corpses.

"Fire…that's…what…kills…them…" Tails sighed, and looked back at Blaze, had who just come around the corner and had picked up the Chaos Emerald, "That's…why Mephiles…didn't want…you around…"

Blaze walked over to Tails and kneeled down beside him, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…just…tired…used…too much…power…" Tails sighed, lying down on the pavement.

"Power? What –" Isis' eyes went wide, "You didn't start fighting without me, did you?"

"He was really good," Sonic said, now starting to get dizzy from lack of sleep, "He was the one that set these guys on fire. Because of Tails, I'm still around."

Tails flushed slightly, and then gasped, "Shadow! What about –"

Rouge was kneeling down by the hurt black hedgehog, and sighed with relief, "He's alive, but hurt. And he's lost a lot of blood."

"Lucky us – we're not even a block from the hospital. I'll carry him," Isis said, carefully lifting up the black hedgehog and walking away.

XXXXXXXXX

"Lift up your arm…there we go." A nurse was wrapping a bandage around Knuckles' chest, "You're very lucky, young man. If you were crushed for much longer, you could have gained broken ribs, instead of just cracked ones."

Knuckles patted his bandaged chest and nodded, "Thanks." He looked over at Rouge, who only had a few scrapes, "And thanks to you too, Bat girl."

Rouge laughed, "You're welcome, Knucklehead. At least Galleom's gone now – he definitely didn't survive that fall. He was really easy to knock down once I freed you."

Isis walked into the exam room with a bandage wrapped around her left elbow. "I gave Shadow a couple of healing potions. We're all too impatient – he needs to get better. I gave him as much as I could without killing him. His jaw and nose are better, but he has a lot of deep cuts and is still unconscious. But he'll pull through."

"What happened to your arm, Isis? I thought you were on your side, not your arm," Knuckles said, slipping off of the exam table as the nurse left the room.

"Shadow needed blood, and we share the same blood type – O negative. I gave blood on the spot." Isis motioned for the two to follow her back to Tails' hospital room, "I heal very quickly, and I'm sure Shadow would have too, if that fucking Mephiles didn't knock him unconscious so quickly. What a coward – he doesn't even attempt to take Shadow on in a fair fight."

Isis opened the door to Tails' hospital room, and let the others go inside first. Shadow now occupied the bed, asleep, while Sonic dozed on the chair beside him. Blaze, Silver and Amy weren't present.

"The fire's out and they went back to look for the Emerald," Isis said, as if she had read their minds, "I need to speak to Tails, and then I'll go look myself. Rouge can get going, but Knuckles should stay here and rest."

"I've fought with a lot more injuries than just a few cracked ribs. Digging through a bunch of ashes isn't that tough – I'll go help." Knuckles turned to leave, but Isis grabbed his shoulder, "This is different. We could be fighting Mephiles for months, and he could attack at any time. You need to conserve your strength."

Rouge smiled and added, "She's right, you know. You don't want me having to come to your rescue again, do you?" Knuckles grunted at that, but he agreed to stay. Rouge left the room, while Knuckles glared at Isis.

"What? I just want you to stay on the top of your game, that's all." Isis moved to the door and looked out, but didn't see Tails coming. She turned to Knuckles, "Why don't you sit down?"

"Because the only two seats in the room are occupied," Knuckles replied, motioning to the two hedgehogs.

Isis moved to Sonic, picked the blue hedgehog up, and then tucked him beside Shadow on the bed, "Not anymore. Sit."

"Sonic's going to be confused on how he ended up in a bed surrounded by a metal fence," Knuckles said while sitting down.

"Let's say he sleepwalked, and also sleep talked for close to an hour on how seahorses and horses are different. It'll be funnier that way."

Knuckles laughed, "What made you come up with that?"

Isis grinned, "My insanity. What else?"

The two were quiet for a minute, and then Knuckles asked, "Why did Sonic stay awake for so long?"

"I think Mephiles had something to do with it. Maybe he kicked Sonic's instincts into overdrive, so Sonic was alert too early. He needed to defend Tails – perhaps Mephiles was going to kidnap him." Isis looked at the two sleeping hedgehogs, and softly said, "When two people are around each other for a long time, they often can sense when the other is in danger. Maybe that's what Sonic felt."

"Maybe," Knuckles replied, shifting on the chair.

"By the way, Knuckles, I want to ask you something." Isis turned to the echidna, an interested look on her face, "Why are all of you together? Rouge told me earlier that you guard the Master Emerald on Angel Island. Why aren't you there now?"

Knuckles sighed, and looked over at Sonic, "Because of Sonic, that's why. And the fact that Mephiles wants to take over the world."

"Whoop-de-snort. You could have hung around the island anyways – no real need to get involved." Isis looked up at the ceiling, and closed her eyes. She then softly said, "You care about him, don't you?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Knuckles asked, looking back at Isis, "Are you saying that like Sonic?"

"Of course you do – otherwise you wouldn't be here right now. And I didn't mean that you liked Sonic in an 'attraction' way – I meant that he's a really good friend of yours and you don't want to see him hurt." Isis opened her eyes and looked at Knuckles, "He seems so strong, and yet so scared at the same time."

"Sonic was so strong, nothing could shake him – until Mephiles got his hands on him. That's when he…cracked, I suppose. I had only seen Sonic cry once before the day he told me what happened, and even then it was only a few tears."

"What happened before…Mephiles came?"

"He had his leg caught while running and broke it in three places. I guess he was in so much pain he couldn't help himself, but even then he joked through his tears. Sonic's just not one to let himself get emotional, but now…" Knuckles shook his head and sighed; he looked back at Isis, his purple eyes meeting up with Isis' lavender ones, "He's changed a lot since spring."

Isis nodded, "He keeps this planet safe, and he's your friend. I guess after all of the protecting he's done, he needs someone to protect him."

Knuckles shrugged, "Sonic can take care of himself in a fight. He just needs to get past his fears."

Isis' eyes became cloudy, like she was suddenly seeing something else. "Past…his…fears…" Isis whispered, "I wonder…"

"Wonder what? You alright, Isis?"

Isis' eyes became normal, and she nodded, "Yes, yes, of course. But I should stop bothering you – get some rest." Isis turned and left the room, to go search for Tails.

XXXXXXXXX

It didn't take long for her to find Tails – he was sitting in the cafeteria, drinking a can soda bought from one of the vending machines.

Isis sat down on the edge of the table, "There you are! Why didn't you come back?"

Tails sighed, "I'm tired. I needed a break." Tails took another sip and then said, "How's Shadow?"

"He'll be alright. But I need to talk with you, although not here. Someone could hear us." Isis looked back and forth, but the only other people in the room were a janitor and a cafeteria worker cutting up beef. Isis grabbed Tails' arm and said, "Come on." She pulled Tails out of his chair, and half-dragged, half-carried Tails back to the hospital room.

Knuckles had fallen asleep, and with the two hedgehogs it looked pretty funny, seeing three powerful fighters sleeping together in the same room, covered in bandages as a result of a tough battle.

"Oh good – Knuckles' is asleep. He needs to rest." Isis set Tails down on the windowsill and then sat down beside him. After shutting and locking the door with her psychic abilities, Isis turned to Tails, "Ok, first things first – you were extremely fucking lucky that your brain didn't explode after trying to use your new powers without any experienced help. But let's not attempt that again, shall we?"

"Ok…" Tails nodded, finishing off the soda, "Why the heck am I so tired?"

"Your body's drained from using so much energy during that one fight. It's because you have no experience in using psychokinesis – or telekinesis, if you prefer to call it that. Silver and I don't get tired as quickly because we've trained, but it takes too much focus for you to move objects around right now. We'll have to practice virtually before we try moving stuff out here."

"Virtually? Like, in cyberspace?"

"Well, not exactly. Usually we just go into your mind and train in there, because you recognize all of the regions and memories and nothing can hurt you. But right now…" Isis frowned, "Your mind probably is littered with junk and exhaustion. We'll have to use someone else's mind."

"What about yours?"

"Can't. Too dangerous in mine."

"How come?"

"I'm a psychotic killer – that's why. Plus I've lived through a lot of…bad things, and I don't want to scar you for life. Sonic is already ticked off enough at me. We'll have to use…" Isis looked at the three sleeping fighters, and pointed at Shadow, "His mind."

"Shadow's? Why him?"

"He's already unconscious, so he will barely notice. As a bonus, we could awaken him, if we find him, in his mind."

Tails yawned, "Fine…but do we have to go now? I'm tired."

"Yes, we do. You won't be as tired in Shadow's mind – I'll share my power with you. We'll just do the basics, and then we'll come back out and you can rest."

"Ok then, whatever you say."

"Are you even paying attention to me? Oh, whatever…" Isis' eyes began to glow purple, and the light was strong for Tails' tired orbs, "Brace yourself. We're about to enter Shadow's mind!"

XXXXXXXXX

Tails opened his eyes and looked around. The entire world was light gray, like he was trapped in a room with all surfaces the same color.

"Isis? Where are you?" Tails called, looking around. Isis was right – he wasn't tired anymore. At least that made things easier.

The psychic ran over to Tails and grinned, "Hey! Ready to get started?"

"What's up with the…grayness?" Tails asked, looking around, "What's going on?"

"Oh, let me explain. The color of someone's mind states their mood, basically. White means they're happy. Light gray means they're content. Dark gray means they're angry or sad."

"Why not black? Can someone's mind be black?"

Isis nodded, "Yep, but that means they're possessed, having a nightmare, or have gone mad." Isis looked around, "How much do you know about Shadow? Does he have any major, dark, crazy memories?"

Tails nodded, thinking about the ARK, "Yes, he's lived a tough life."

"Ok…just warn me if we get near one. We'll stay out of there." Isis motioned for Tails to follow her, and the two started walking, although they didn't actually seem to be moving. But something was going on, for little cubes in all sorts of colors – white, gray, black, blue, pink, green, yellow, and more – started floating past them.

"What are all of these?" Tails asked, pointing to a periwinkle blue and bright yellow one.

"They're memories that Shadow has. Color-coded of course…that particular one you're pointing at was a happy one that took place in a recent winter. Yellow for happy, blue for winter. The darker the color is, the longer ago it took place, or the emotion during that time was stronger. Dreams also take this form, although they are much larger, and will shrink to this size when the person wakes up."

"Could we look inside?" Tails asked, poking the cube. The cube let out a little ding, like someone rang a tiny bell.

"I don't see why not. This seems to be a good memory for Shadow." Isis grabbed the box as it floated past and opened the lid. Tails and Isis looked inside, and saw a Christmas tree.

"This was last Christmas," Tails said, looking at the pictures swirling past, "There's me, holding the red and silver package."

Isis nodded, "We're seeing through Shadow's eyes."

Eventually Shadow looked down to see Cream and Cheese offering him a plate of cookies. The black hedgehog took one and bit into it, and a yellow border surrounded the image.

"What does that mean?" Tails asked.

"It means he's happy."

Shadow wrapped one arm around Cream and thanked her, who was hopping up and down, excited that even Shadow liked her baking. Isis tapped Tails on the shoulder, and when he looked up she closed the box, "Well, that's enough of that. We're here to train, not fuck around with Shadow's mind." She released the box, and it went back into the flow of cubes.

"Ok…" Tails looked around, "Hey Isis, it's Shadow!"

Isis looked in the same direction, and saw the black hedgehog lying down amongst the swirling cubes, "There's Shadow; well, his conscious, I suppose. It's lying down because the real Shadow is knocked out. We'll awaken him later."

"Why is he solid, and not in a cube?"

Isis shrugged, "Well, the strongest of all memories are kept outside of the memory boxes. Everyone ultimately thinks of themselves, which is why everybody has a 'mini me' running around in their head. Other people and places can show up if the memory is powerful enough." Isis motioned with her thumb behind her, "Like that girl over there. She was probably important to Shadow."

"Who?" Tails turned around and saw a young girl walking around with blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in all blue, "Oh! That's Maria!"

"Huh?"

"She…was Shadow's best friend." Tails sighed.

"Where is she now?"

"Dead."

"Oh." Isis grabbed Tails' hand and started to lead him away from the mini Shadow and Maria, "It's best if we leave this part of Shadow's mind. The 'living' memories walking around are very strong, and that's what can hurt us. If Maria was very important to Shadow, disrupting her could end disastrously. And she's colorful, too – a very good sign that she's a big part of his life."

"Does everything have to do with colors here?" Tails asked, looking over his shoulder. Maria had walked over to Shadow and kneeled down, stroking back his quills.

"Yep. Most of the time they're just to help you find something; but like many animals, they also serve as a warning. If you see a moving memory that's brightly colored, get out of there – that memory has a lot to do with the person, and no good would come out if you messed with it."

"Alright – I'll remember that." Tails looked over his shoulder again, but Maria and Shadow were gone. Instead, a different memory was following them – brightly colored, and not inside a cube. Mephiles was walking towards the pair, although he hadn't seemed to have noticed them yet.

Tails tugged Isis' shirt, "Isis! Look!"

Isis whirled around and saw Mephiles, "Shit! Shadow still must be pissed off at him, so Mephiles is wandering around. You go that way," Isis pointed to the right, "And I'm gonna double back and lead the memory Mephiles away. I'll join you in a second. And don't worry about me," Isis said when Tails was about to protest, "I've done this before."

With that, Isis scurried off, and Tails ran through the cubes and away from Mephiles. The walls suddenly turned white, and Tails was blinded from the sudden brightness.

"Shadow must be happy now…" Tails mumbled to himself, rubbing his eyes, "Must be having a good dream or something." He looked around at all of the cubes, completely lost in Shadow's mind. "Isis? Where are you?"

"Hey Tails, come over here!"

Tails looked around, but couldn't see Isis, "Where are you?"

"By this dude, a moving memory…who is this long-horned, three-eyed, no-legged huge dark freak anyways?"

Tails ran over to where he heard Isis' voice, but came to a stop when he saw the moving memory Isis was staring at.

"What?" Isis asked, cocking her head, "I agree, he looks creepy with the red eyes and the chains and the three-fingered clawed hands and dirty cloak, but that's no reason to panic."

"Oh, yes it is…" Tails stuttered, eyes wide, "That's Black Doom!"

_**Hooray, a long update! And you know what's exciting? After trying for so long to do the whole X-spacing thing and eventually giving up during, "Any Dark Deed", it works now! Shocking! **_


	8. Learning

"Who?" Isis asked, "Black Doom?" She turned back to the image. "Kinda lame name, huh? 'Black Doom'? Couldn't it be anything more creative than that? Like, I dunno… 'Death Demon' or 'Crazed, Spiked Thingy?" Isis snorted.

Tails grabbed Isis' arm, "Not funny. We gotta get out of here!"

Isis shook her head, "Nope. It's cool."

"But…but you said memories outside of cubes could harm us!"

"Well, yeah…the _moving_ ones can. Does ol' dusty Dracula here look like he's moving?" Isis stepped right up to the overlord and rapped on his side. The image flickered a little bit, but didn't move.

"Wha…? What's going on?" Tails moved beside Isis and poked the image. He flinched slightly when a small jolt went through him, but the image of Black Doom stayed still.

Isis gestured at Black Doom, "You can tell that since freaky here is outside of a cube, he was important to Shadow in some shape or form. But since he's_ frozen_…Shadow's forgotten about him."

"Forgot? How did Shadow forget?"

"I dunno. Probably trauma to the head, or something. Slight amnesia…and I'm thinking there's no reason for us to set Black Doom free, is there?"

"Far from it," Tails replied, shaking his head, "He's nothing but evil."

"So, what's he doing here in Shadow's mind, anyways? A tough enemy of his?" Isis asked, tipping her head to the side.

"Well, yeah…that and he's Shadow's father."

Isis looked at Tails for a moment, and then burst out laughing, "Get out of here! You've got to be kidding! Oh wait, you're not…" Isis calmed down, was silent for a moment, and then snorted, "Ok, then how the hell did something this freaky produce the amazing Shadow?"

"Shadow was artificially created…using Black Doom's DNA…" Tails mumbled, looking back at the alien overlord.

Isis whispered softly, "Oh yeah...Shadow said something about that earlier…" The psychic looked at the image, and then tapped Tails on the shoulder, "Come on. Let's get in a bit of practice before our host awakens.

XXXXXXXXX

Knuckles softly mumbled as Rouge shook his shoulder, "Wake up…we've found it."

The echidna slowly opened his eyes, and then shook his head back and forth, "Huh?" He looked at the blue and white gems in Rouge's hands, "Good work…" He yawned, and then sat up, "Did I sleep the entire time?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about it - it didn't take us that long." Rouge turned and gestured around the room, "You're not the only one who's been napping." Isis and Tails were both sitting on the windowsill and leaning against the glass, while Sonic and Shadow were still curled up in the hospital bed.

Rouge moved over to Shadow's side of the bed, and Knuckles followed her, still a little sleepy. "I wonder why Shadow didn't fight Mephiles?" Rouge mumbled, placing a hand on Shadow's cheek, "I've never seen him get hurt this badly without trying to do some damage."

"He's been getting calmer and friendlier since last year. Maybe too much, though…" Knuckles replied, leaning against the bed.

The bat nodded, "True…but, I wonder…exactly why he is. It was so spontaneous - one day he's grumpy, the next he's nice. Like some parasite invaded his brain and made him forget that he hates everyone."

"That makes perfect sense to me. But do we want to remove the bug?"

"Mmm…" Rouge stayed silent, staring at the black hedgehog.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ok, first things first…it seems like you've gotten powers pretty close to Silver's…which is good. Makes things easier. Anyways, let's give this a go." Isis held out her left hand, which began to glow purple. A small, wooden box appeared about three feet in front of the two. "Ok, lift it."

Tails frowned. He hadn't really known what he was doing before, and wasn't really sure what to do now. All he had done was focused, and…commanded…he had ordered the barrels before to rise. The same principal had to apply here. The fox focused on the box, and slowly it rose ten feet above the technically non-existent ground before he let it go.

"Nice work! You've got that down, so I won't bother showing you more. Just try not to lift anything heavier than half your size for the time being. Now, there are two things I'm going to show you now, and Silver can help you finish it off. The first is how to channel a psychic beam; the other is how to create a shield to defend yourself. If you're up for it, we can try detecting objects and people not in plain sight. Ready?"

"You bet," Tails replied, nodding.

"Alright! First, for the attack…" A few red and white bulls-eye targets appeared, floating above the box, "Other than moving objects and throwing them at your enemies, or just throwing your enemies in general, this is your most basic psychic attack - a beam of energy. It's kind of hard to use at first because it requires quite a bit of focus, but once you've got it you'll be able to bend the beam in any direction you desire with little effort. What you have to do," Isis said, raising her right hand this time, "Is focus on your current emotion. Whether the emotion is happiness, or determination, or anger, you can make an attack out of it. The stronger the feeling is, the stronger the attack will be."

"Ok…so, I'm…" Tails thought for a moment, "Tired, a little confused and a little bit angry."

"Can you make yourself happy? Think of a good memory or something. Happiness is easy to channel, even though it doesn't do that much damage."

"I'll try…" Tails closed his eyes and relaxed. In here, it was much easier to let go of unwanted thoughts and latch onto happy ones. "I've got it," Tails said after a minute.

"Good. Now, this works quite a bit like moving objects - you have to focus on your target, but this time instead of thinking of moving it, you want to see it…explode, for lack of a better word. Imagine that energy flowing from your brain and heart down your arm and out your hand. You want to release the emotion. It's why psychics often seem so cold in battle - the clearer your mind is, the easier it is to fight."

"Let's see…um…" Tails held out his right arm and closed his eyes again, trying to imagine a river of power flowing through his arm, "I…I don't think I can…"

"You can! Any doubt you have will only be an obstacle for you. Put some brain power into it! Will the energy to zap that target into splinters!"

"Come on…come on…" Tails muttered to himself, feeling his palm starting to numb. A few small sparks crackled through his fur, and the fox felt like somebody was poking him with a needle.

"Almost there - you can do it!" Isis was staring at Tails expectantly. He was trying pretty hard, so there should be some kind of result.

There was a result, but it wasn't exactly a good one. A strong blast of multi-colored energy in yellow, blue and purple was sent from Tails' hand. It was strong enough to knock Tails right off his feet, but because of that Tails had no control. Instead of staying in a single beam the energy scattered and became a wave, hitting every target, but destroying none.

Isis helped Tails to his feet, "That was good, but you got frustrated. Using waves of energy can come in handy to hit multiple targets, but as you see," Isis gestured to the targets, "If not controlled, the power isn't that strong."

"Ow…" Tails mumbled, rubbing his head, "That kinda hurt…"

"At least once we get out of here, you can sleep the pain off. But for now, you want to give the attack another go?"

Tails sighed, "Might as well…I have a feeling you won't let me go until I do…"

Isis burst out laughing, "You really are a quick learner!"

XXXXXXXXX

"So the one in the forest was a fake…" Sonic mumbled, taking another drink of apple juice. He had woken up ten minutes ago, already feeling a hundred times stronger. Shadow still lay beside him, sleeping with an emotionless expression, while Isis and Tails were curled up on the windowsill, seemingly concentrating in their sleep. "Why would someone go to the trouble of planting a fake Emerald?"

"Why else? To distract us," Blaze said, swinging her legs. She was sitting between the two on the windowsill, careful not to bump either of them, "Shadow destroyed it, so at least we won't pick it up again."

"But if there's one, there could be others…" Sonic got off of the bed and started to pace, "I wonder if Eggman is scheming something as well."

"How come you think Eggman did it?" Knuckles asked, picking at his bandages which were starting to itch.

"Oh come on! It'd be just like Egghead to make fake Emeralds. He's done it before!"

"He's been quiet since September, and he hasn't sent anything after you lately. Seems kinda random for him just to dump a fake Emerald in the middle of nowhere."

"Hmm…" Sonic moved back to bed and sat on the end, "You think he's working with Mephiles?"

"I don't think either of them is willing to share the planet with the other. I can't see them working together," Silver replied.

"I think Silver's right. Besides, while Eggman does some crazy things, he wouldn't…" Knuckles trailed off, "Never mind."

"He wouldn't what?" Sonic asked, looking right into Knuckles' eyes.

Knuckles gulped slightly, seeing everyone look at him expectantly. The echidna sighed, "I was going to say that he would never rape you, is all."

Sonic slapped his hands over his ears, "I don't want to hear it."

"Well, you asked…"

"The last thing I need right now is the image of being raped by Eggman! So shut up!"

"Alright, alright, chill…" Knuckles went back to rubbing his bandages, "These things are driving me crazy!"

"It should be ok for you to take them off now," Rouge said, moving behind the echidna to help unravel the cloth.

Blaze looked over at Amy, who was standing near the door, "You've been pretty quiet. Any thoughts?"

"Yes. We should get Eggman to help us," Amy replied, looking up.

XXXXXXXXX

Tails could almost see the target exploding in a bright flash of colors…the energy moved down his arm, his fur crackled, and…

"Beautiful!" Isis cheered as a bolt of energy flew in a straight line and obliterated the target, "Try to hit that one, which is at an angle. No, don't turn to face it; move the energy."

After a few more tries, Tails was able to get the energy to curve and smash the target. The other targets soon followed, exploding into dust - or the mind's version of dust.

"I've had enough. Can we stop?" Tails asked, panting.

"You know, just for the record, since we're in Shadow's mind you don't even need to breathe. You're panting for nothing."

"I don't care! I'm just ticked off!" Tails snapped, slamming his foot on the ground. A wave of colors came from his foot, making the world around them shake. "What'd I do?" Tails asked, trying to keep his balance.

"I think Shadow felt you. Cross your fingers that he doesn't wake up, otherwise he'll really be freaked."

XXXXXXXXX

Everybody turned to look at Amy, confused. "Are you crazy? Eggman wouldn't help us!" Knuckles said, tearing a layer of bandages off.

Amy was about to reply when Shadow let out a small cry and grabbed his head, as though he was having a headache.

Sonic whirled around and rubbed Shadow's side, "You ok there? Shadow?"

Shadow snarled in his sleep and shook his head back and forth on the pillow. Sonic looked back at the others, about to ask if they should get a nurse when Shadow went limp again. He rolled onto his stomach and let his hands fall away from his head.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, waiting to see if Shadow would move again. He didn't. "That was…odd…" Silver said, looking at the sleeping black hedgehog.

Sonic nodded, and caught a glance of something shining in Shadow's back quills. "Hold on…what's this?" Careful not to cut himself, Sonic reached into Shadow's quills and grasped onto a fist-sized object. He pulled it out and was surprised to see that he was holding the red Chaos Emerald.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ok…I think I've calmed him…" Isis sighed and turned to face Tails, "I understand you're getting annoyed, but if you release your emotions here Shadow can pick up on them. That's why I asked you to stay happy, because happiness will keep him calm."

"I'm sorry! It's just that…" Tails sighed, "I'm tired."

"I know, I know. I'll make this short. Shields are harder to pull off than a blast, because in this case you want to keep the energy surrounding you or your buddy. In most cases, you use your will power to keep your friend safe, but for now we can just try using an emotion blast, but keeping it around you…so…like…this…" Isis sent out a psychic blast, just like Tails had been doing, but instead of sending it out she brought it back in and held it in a little ball in front of her body. "Then…if you imagine you are playing with clay and pull it like so…" The energy began to spread as Isis moved her hands, slowly stretching into a circular shape, "You can protect yourself from most damage, as long as you keep your strength up in both mind and body. So, it goes like this: shoot a blast like normal, but this time turn it around so it comes back towards you and try to hold it right in front of you. Let's practice that for now, shall we?"

Tails sighed, "Fine, fine…" He began to charge up another blast, "Here it goes…"

XXXXXXXXX

"How did Shadow get this?" Sonic asked, staring at the Emerald.

"Perhaps he found it while running back here," Blaze said.

"Of course! I get it now!" Everyone looked at Rouge, who had just taken the last bandage off of Knuckles, "Shadow let himself get hurt because he was trying to get the Emerald from Mephiles without the guy noticing. If it was well hidden, Shadow might've had to sacrifice protecting himself in order to grab it."

"That's pretty noble…I didn't think Shadow liked admitting he had that side," Knuckles said, finally free of the wrappings.

"Yeah…" Sonic said, looking back at the sleeping hedgehog and thought, _"Is it my fault that he's become this way?"_

"You ok, Sonic? You seem deep in thought," Blaze asked.

Realizing that everyone was looking at him, Sonic quickly changed the topic, "I'm fine! But still…why should we ask Egghead for help?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Just spread it like Play-Doh…come on, a little bigger!"

Tails struggled to make the energy only move sideways, and in small amounts, instead of just focusing on one point. It was like trying to spread wet cement with your bare hands while somebody wanted to write in it. Currently his biggest shield so far was half his height.

"Once you can cover your front, we'll stop. Go Tails!"

Despite not really being alive inside of Shadow's mind, Tails was sweating and panting with the effort. One more inch…one more centimeter…

"There!" Tails gasped, having spread the energy far enough to cover his entire front half, "Done!" He let the energy disperse and sat down, breathing heavily.

"Bravo!" Isis clapped, "You did it!"

"How can you and Silver do that so fast?" Tails asked, "It was like I was trying to move a mountain!"

Isis laughed softly, "Practice and nothing more. Over time it'll come naturally and won't be so tough."

"Can we leave now? I want to rest," Tails asked, accepting Isis' arm and shakily standing up.

"Not quite. You just as interested as me on how our host lost some memory?"

"You want to know why Shadow doesn't remember Black Doom?" Tails asked. Isis nodded. "I am kinda curious, but -"

"So it's settled! Let's go find out!" Isis grabbed Tails' arm and ran back towards the frozen image of Black Doom, not even bothering to listen to Tails' protests.

XXXXXXXXX

"Well, what I mean is that we should at least find out whose side Eggman is on - whether it is ours, Mephiles', or his own. It'll be hard to fight two villains at once, won't it?" Amy looked around at everyone, waiting for a response.

Sonic crossed his arms and looked down, "Point taken. Eggman can be pretty tough, and I'd rather focus on one crisis at a time."

"So, what do you suggest we do? Go up, knock on his door and ask? Or smash into his base?" Knuckles asked.

"Neither - for the first one, he wouldn't answer, and for the second, it could tick him off enough to actually send out an attack. We'll just sneak in, listen, and then leave once we get an answer," Rouge said, crossing her arms as well, "I can get in just fine, and search for any Emeralds while I'm there."

"You're not saying you go alone, are you?" Blaze asked.

Rouge shrugged, "Well, I would say Shadow should come, but he certainly isn't in any condition to fight. I can go solo."

"I'll come. I haven't done much so far - time for me to get some action." Sonic grinned and jumped to his feet, "Besides, I'd like to repay Eggman for twisting my ankle last time. I hated sitting around for those two days."

Rouge shook her head, "We don't want to confront him; we want to listen in. The less drama we cause right now, the better. And you're all about making a scene."

"Well, I can be silent too, if I want. It's not as fun, but I can."

"I'll come along too," Silver said, stepping forward, "Maybe I'll be able to psychically pick something up. Where's his base, anyways?"

"I know where it is. Just follow me…Knuckles, you guard these!" Sonic tossed the red Emerald to Knuckles and dashed out of the room. Rouge and Silver quickly followed.

The remaining three looked at each other, not quite sure what to do. Amy sighed, "I guess we just wait for these guys to wake up, then…"

XXXXXXXXX

Back at the frozen image of Black Doom, Isis began scouring the cubes that floated by. She never opened any up; only stared at each for a few seconds before moving on. "What exactly are you doing?" Tails asked after Isis looked at her twentieth one.

"Doing a quick scan to see if I can catch any signs of memory loss or remembrance of such…" Isis moved to one cube, and then another, "Nope, nope, nope…bingo!" Isis grabbed a cube painted with multiple colors and missing a small chunk, "This must be it!"

"How do you know?"

Isis shrugged, "I know there's memory loss from the chip; whether it relates to Black Doom being Frozen Doom, I don't know. This memory…" Isis held it out in front of her and looked quizzically at it, "Was from last fall, October or November. In here Shadow's angry…annoyed…confused…hurt…cocky…like he was dragged to a party he didn't want to go to and then got injured."

"Can I see?" Tails asked, coming closer, "It sounds like that's around the time where Shadow got nicer."

"Nicer? He was mean before?"

"Grumpy, really. He wasn't fond of other people and liked to keep to himself. He changed some time ago."

"Ok then…let's take a look." Isis opened the box, and both of them peered inside.

XXXXXXXXX

"_Come on, Shadow! So much for being the Ultimate!" _Through Shadow's eyes, the two could see Sonic grinning back at the black hedgehog. The two hedgehogs were racing at a high speed through a grassy plain, although the blue one seemed to be enjoying it a lot more than the other.

"_Annoying Faker! Give me back my Emerald!" _Shadow snapped, reaching for Sonic's right arm. Sonic barely squirmed out of the way, and held a green emerald above his head.

"_What's the magic words, Shadow?"_

"_Give it back to me before I rip your head off!" _ Shadow snarled going into a sharp turn as Sonic moved away from the black one.

Sonic laughed, _"Nope…it's, 'If I win the race, you have to give it back to me!'"_

"_IF? I will win!" _

"_You don't even know where the finish line is!"_

"_Neither do you! You're just going to keep making me chase you until I catch you!"_

Sonic grinned, _"You know me quite well, don't you?"_

The two hedgehogs raced across the plain, through a valley and now were running through a thick forest. Their speed dropped as now more attention had to be paid to dodging objects instead of teasing the other, but their speed was still over a hundred miles an hour.

"_Come on Shadow! Catch me if you can!" _Sonic took off in a blue blur, and Shadow pressed on right after him.

"_Damn it Sonic!"_ Shadow growled to himself, _"Once I get my hands on you, you'll pay. That Faker is such a pain in the ass! I don't get how the hell I can work with him when fighting Black Doom one day, and the next I just want to wring his neck! Why does he even bother helping me with G.U.N and Black Doom and everything when he just -"_

During his brooding, Shadow had kept his speed up, but hadn't remembered the fact that he was in a bad place to be moving quickly. He finally looked up when he heard Sonic cry out, _"Shadow, look out!"_

There was a flash of brown as a huge tree branch appeared right at Shadow's height, and then the image went black for a moment as Shadow slammed straight into it. Both Isis and Tails winced, almost feeling the impact of the tree on their own foreheads.

Shadow's vision slowly cleared, and a blue sky surrounded by the tops of trees was whirling around and around, like seeing clothes go around in the washer. Sonic soon appeared by Shadow's side, the blue hedgehog's image also spinning.

"_Shadow, you have to pay more attention! Are you alright?" _Shadow moaned in response, still unable to pull himself fully together. _"Ok, um…what's your name?" _ Sonic asked, tilting Shadow's head up so they were staring into each other's eyes.

"_Shadow…"_

"_And what's my name?"_

"_S…Sonic…"_

"_Good! Um…" _Sonic held up his left hand with his thumb tucked against the palm, _"How many fingers am I holding up?"_

"_Th…three…no, two…uhh…" _ The world finally stopped spinning, although it was still a little blurry for both Shadow and the two watching the memory. _"Four. Definitely four."_

"_Getting yourself back together, huh?" _Sonic grinned,_ "What's your nickname for me?"_

"_I…I don't know…" _ Shadow's vision started to go black at the edges, but Sonic softly shook Shadow and made the black hedgehog alert again.

"_Ok…odd…how about your dad? Remember him?" _

"…_Professor Gerald?"_

"_Uh, no, that's your creator."  
_

"_Creator. Yeah, I remember that. And Maria. Where is she, anyways?"_

Sonic jumped slightly, his puzzled expression obviously meaning he had no idea how to explain what had happened to Maria, _"She's…not here…um…do you remember Black Doom?"_

Shadow shook his head as best as he could while it was still being held by Sonic. Sonic bit his lip, _"What's the last thing you remember?"_

"…_Ouch."_

"_Ouch?"  
_

"_I ran into something…while…chasing you…"_

"_Oh yeah…those large, solid objects in plain sight are always the hardest to dodge." _

Sonic laughed until Shadow tried to push Sonic away. _"Not funny," _Shadow mumbled, his hand weakly pushing against Sonic's chest.

"_Sorry…" _Sonic grinned for a moment, and then his expression was sober again, _"You gonna be alright?" _

"_I…I think so…" _Sonic stood up as the ebony hedgehog attempted to simply sit up, the world finally looking as it should.

Sonic bent down and looked at Shadow's forehead as the black hedgehog struggled to stay sitting, _"Very impressive, Faker. You hit that tree branch so hard you're bleeding."_

Shadow rubbed his hand against his forehead and then brought it down. Seeing a fair amount of blood on his glove he snorted, _"Wonderful. This is your entire fault, you know."_

The blue hedgehog winced, _"Yeah…I know…I'm sorry…" _Shadow glanced up at Sonic, who was looking at the ground out of guilt. After a moment, the blue hedgehog looked back up, grinning again, _"Well, the least I can do is help you get home, right? We can finish our race some other time."_

Shadow snarled, struggling to stand up, _"I don't need your -" _The black hedgehog fell forward, too dizzy to keep his balance, and Sonic caught him just as Shadow finished with, _"help."_

The sapphire hedgehog laughed, _"Sure you don't - and I'm the queen of England! Just keep quiet and I'll help you home. I promise that I won't tell anyone!"_

The ebony hedgehog sighed, realizing that there was no chance of him being able to get home by himself or that Sonic was going to leave him alone, _"Fine."_

Sonic slipped Shadow's right arm over his shoulders and held it there with his own right arm. The blue hedgehog slipped his other arm around Shadow's back and gripped the black one's waist to help keep Shadow upright. _"See? That's not so bad!"_ Sonic said, smiling. Shadow grunted in response, leaning on Sonic's shoulders.

It was slow going, since Shadow was still too disoriented to move much faster than a walking pace. Because Sonic didn't want to injure Shadow's pride any more he only carried the black hedgehog when they had to cross a gorge or to get around some other obstacle that required good coordination.

Eventually the two hedgehogs managed to make it back to Shadow's place, and the black hedgehog unlocked the door. Sonic helped Shadow hobble over to the couch and sit down on it, _"I think you've given yourself a concussion. Can I get you anything?" _Shadow looked up at Sonic, who was grinning like nothing was wrong.

"_First aid kit. It's in the kitchen." _Sonic was back with the white box before Shadow had even finished his sentence.

"_I'll take care of that cut for you. You can't see what you're doing, and even if you could you're too dizzy." _Shadow tried to protest, but Sonic ignored him and continued to clean and bandage the wound. The black hedgehog had to admit that he wouldn't have been able to do a good job in his current state, so he let himself be taken care of by the blue one.

"_There! All done!" _Sonic tossed thebandage wrapper back into the box and shut it, _"Anything else?"_

"_No,"_ Shadow said, closing his eyes, _"Just let me rest, ok?"_

Sonic nodded and was about to leave, but then Shadow remembered something else. _"Hold on! What was my nickname for you again?"_

The blue hedgehog pondered the idea, and then said, _"Faker, because I look so much like you but you came first, technically. We both call each other that." _Sonic's voice quieted as he continued, _"I don't like it that much."_

Shadow nodded and stretched out on the couch, _"But if you don't like it, why did you tell me? I probably would have forgotten if it wasn't for you." _

Sonic shrugged, _"Didn't seem nice to lie to you. Well, see ya later."_

"_Hey, before you go Sonic…thanks."_

Those six words, the last two in particular, made Sonic turn around and grin, _"Shadow thanking me? What a glorious day! I'll come by tomorrow so we can finish our race!" _

The blue blur dashed off, and once Shadow heard the door shut he remembered that he never asked for his Emerald back. The black hedgehog grumbled to himself, but when he rolled onto his side he was surprised to see the green Emerald resting right beside him on the couch. Shadow smirked as he picked up the Emerald and held it up to the light, _"So, he gave it back and still expects me to race him, huh? I'll have to repay him for making me run into a tree."_

XXXXXXXXX

"I was right - trauma to the head. He was thinking about those things at the time of impact, so he temporarily wiped his memory of them." Isis nodded and closed the cube, letting it float loose again.

"How can something like that make Shadow just forget?"

"Well, haven't you ever had a time when you've forgotten what you were going to say, just before you were going to say it? Or you forgot what you were saying in mid-sentence? This is kinda the same thing, only on a bigger scale. Basically what I think happened is that when Sonic called out, Shadow's brain attempted to erase those thoughts about the bad things from his mind in order to concentrate on what the heck was going on. But when he ran into the tree, it probably startled his brain, so he forgot to remember the bad things." Isis looked at the cube, now floating over their heads, "Did that make any possible sense to you?"

"Uh, sure…" Tails looked up at cube, "Sonic never said anything about this. I wonder why?"

Isis shrugged, "Well, Shadow's happier now. Maybe it's for the best that he's oblivious."

"Perhaps…" Both were quiet, until the area around them started rumbling. "What's going on? Did we do this?" Tails asked, stumbling a bit forward.

Isis shook her head, "Nope; Shadow's waking up! We'd better scram!"

XXXXXXXXX

If the three in the room that were awake had been paying closer attention to those that were sleeping, they probably would have been quite surprised to see that all three woke up at the same time. Although Tails immediately fell asleep for real this time, Isis was too tired to do anything but blink sleepily, and Shadow was simply pissed off.

"Fucking Mephiles! Beating me with that pipe - and not even getting close to me at first, the coward! But at least while he was thinking that he was beating me, I totally got him back…" Shadow sat up, ignoring the pain and reached into his back quills, "Damn it! Don't tell me he took it!"

"The Emerald? Sonic found it." Knuckles held it out to Shadow, "Why didn't you attack Mephiles?"

Shadow chuckled, "I sensed that he was carrying an Emerald on him. If I attacked him, he'd be ready to defend himself and would notice if I kept reaching for a certain point. Since I seemed to do nothing, he thought so high-and-mighty of himself he didn't even realize that I plucked the Emerald from his cloak." Shadow took the Emerald from Knuckles and tossed it up and down, "The pain is worth the Emerald. It saves us the trouble of heading into Mephiles' base to grab it ourselves."

"Nice work," Isis mumbled, yawning, "That's three, and…there's how many?"

"Seven," Shadow replied, leaning back against the pillows and admiring his prize, "Already we're halfway there, or almost." The black hedgehog looked around the room, "Where is everyone?"

"Off to invade Eggman's base; looking for Emeralds and to see if Eggman is up to something," Blaze said to Shadow, and then turned to Isis, "How can you still be tired? You've been sleeping all afternoon!"

Isis yawned again, "I haven't been sleeping well lately. 'Night again." Isis curled up on the windowsill and promptly fell asleep.

"So, where's the Doctor's base? I'll go catch up to them," Shadow said, attempting to stand.

Amy walked over and pushed Shadow back down, "No way; you're not ready to fight. You need to rest."

Shadow shook his head, "I'm fine! Just a little dizzy…" Shadow stood up, his legs wobbling slightly, "I took that beating, no problem."

"He knocked you unconscious."

"Only because I let him! I could easily have beaten him if he wasn't such a coward. He only got close when he saw how badly hurt I was."

"You just admitted you were injured! Now sit down!"

"The key word there being 'were', in this case being past tense. I'm leaving!"

"You're staying here!"

"No way - I'm too pumped up now to rest."

Blaze sighed, "This could go on for a while."

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic had led Silver and Rouge straight to the base, and after Rouge had gotten all three inside undetected she left the two hedgehogs alone. Sonic still preferred making a grand entrance, but since Eggman hadn't actually done anything lately there was no real point to blowing up the place. So Sonic resigned himself to inwardly commenting on the base's design as the two hedgehogs made their way through the base.

Eventually the two hedgehogs came to Eggman's main workshop, or at least what looked like it, judging from a quick peek from Sonic. The room was piled high with robot parts and sheets of paper, covered with writing and equations. Eggman wasn't in the room, so the two hedgehogs crept inside. They silently split up to look for anything useful - either Emeralds or some bit of information pointing to Eggman's alliance.

It took a few minutes, but Silver called out for Sonic, "Over here! I think it's an Emerald!" Sonic came over and followed Silver's pointing to see a purple gem locked in a glass case hung from the ceiling, at least thirty feet above the hedgehog's heads.

Sonic frowned, "I don't know, Silver. I can sense it, and it doesn't seem powerful enough to be real."

"Well, we might as well check and see. I think I'll be able to grab it with my psychic powers…" Silver climbed onto a desk, and from there onto a bookshelf so he was a good seven feet off of the floor, "Yeah, I should be able to."

Sonic shrugged, "Give it a go. Old Egghead's not around here, anyways."

Silver nodded and began to focus, moving slowly so he would detect any alarm systems before he accidentally activated them. The door to the case slowly unlocked, and then opened just wide enough for Silver to slip the Emerald out the door. Silver focused on the Emerald and almost had it out when a huge boom rang throughout the base, as though a few dozen airplanes had smashed into the place spontaneously. The impact was wobbling every piece of furniture in the room, and the walls and ceiling seemed ready to cave in.

Unable to keep his balance, Silver slipped off of the bookshelf and was heading for a nasty headfirst crash onto the floor until Sonic stepped into his path, "I've got you."

Silver, at the same time, was attempting to right himself with his powers when Sonic caught him. Their heads smacked together, and their lips accidentally pressed against each other's in an awkward kiss.

Sonic and Silver stared at each other, both too surprised to pull away. They finally broke contact when they heard a voice say, "Honestly, I don't care if you two are lovers, but at least keep it out of my workshop, will you?"

The two hedgehogs awkwardly stumbled away from each other, and Sonic turned to the voice's owner with flushed cheeks, "Eggman!"

_**Awkward situation is awkward! How is that for a chapter ending?**_


	9. For Sale

For seeing the two uninvited hedgehogs in his base - and one of them his main enemy - Eggman was taking their presence surprisingly well. Or, judging from his completely ash-coated clothes and skin, Sonic and Silver were the least of Eggman's problems.

Eggman snickered at the sight of the two wide-eyed hedgehogs, both taking in his current condition, "If you think I'm a shock, you should have seen yourselves when I walked in! What a darling little sight, of two lovers so happy to have succeeded…"

"We're _not_ lovers!" Sonic and Silver shouted at the same time, already their cheeks growing a slightly darker red.

Before Eggman could make another remark, Sonic burst out, "So, what about you, Eggy? Romance heating you up as well?"

"Hardly, hedgehog. Just a test gone wrong, that's all." Eggman walked right past the two hedgehogs and began rooting through a box on the giant workstation in the center of the room.

With the purple emerald in Silver's hand, both hedgehogs were surprised when Eggman didn't say anything about it. "Don't you want the Emerald back?" Silver asked, holding the gem out.

Eggman replied without looking at the pair, "Take it, and good riddance." The doctor placed a few gears to the side and continued to look through the box.

"What…? Why don't you -"

"It's a fake, Silver, but a really good one," Sonic answered with one hand on the Emerald, "Isn't that right, Eggman?"

"You're correct, Sonic. And this isn't the first one I've found." Eggman held up a screw to the light, and then placing it with the other assorted machine parts. "Each one I find is better made than the last. Whoever is doing this is getting very good very quickly."

"How many have you found so far?" Silver asked as he and Sonic walked over to the table.

Eggman looked down at the two hedgehogs, his face scrunched in concentration. After a few moments, the scientist seemingly had decided that currently the two posed no threat and said, "Four. Two white, one purple, and one green."

"We've found one too. A blue one," Silver said, placing the purple emerald on the table.

"Hmm…" Eggman stood up, one hand rubbing his chin as he thought. "Hmm…and what happened to said Emerald?"

"Shadow destroyed it."

"Hmm…"

"Enough with the 'hmms'! What about your Emeralds? What have you done with them?" Sonic snapped, getting impatient after twenty seconds of boring conversation.

Eggman rolled his eyes, although not visible due to his dark glasses. "It's more what I've _tried_ to do with them, hedge-rat. I've been attempting to take the fakes apart and diagnose what causes them to react like real Chaos Emeralds, thus allowing me to disable them. But the last one I tried was very well made - and went up in smoke, as you can clearly see."

Sonic let out a small laugh, "Fourth time's the charm, huh, Eggman?"

"Perhaps. But put that damn Chaos Emerald back in the case," Eggman pointed to the empty glass container hanging from the ceiling, "This one messes up electrical equipment if left out for too long."

"How long?" Silver asked.

The lights flickered once, and then went out, plunging all three into complete darkness.

Eggman grumbled, "That long."

XXXXXXXXX

With his natural quick recovery abilities, Shadow was healed and released from the hospital, and now with finally everyone out of there they all planned on staying out. Having made it back to Tails' place, Knuckles carried the tired fox upstairs while Isis was fully awake and listening to Amy speak about the Chaos Emeralds.

"I see…" Isis said after the hedgehog spoke about the power inside the gems and what they could do, "Although, they honestly remind me of a kind of candy on my home planet. Om nom nom," she said, picking up the red Emerald and pretending to bite it. Suddenly, Isis' hand flew to her mouth, as though she had a sore tooth.

"Something wrong?" Amy asked.

"Uh…no…" Isis kept her hand covering her mouth, "Is there a mirror around here I can use?"

"Just down the hall, second door on the left."

"Thanks." Isis left for the room, her eyes a little worried.

"Odd…" Amy mumbled to herself, and then looked over her shoulder at the other two currently in the room. Shadow had his eyes closed and seemed deep in thought, while Blaze was looking out the window.

"Blaze," Amy said, and once the cat looked at her the hedgehog continued, "Do you think Isis could be hiding something?"

"She _is_ hiding something. I'm sure of it," Shadow replied just as Blaze was about to speak.

"How do you know?" Blaze asked, changing topics.

"Something isn't right here. Maybe it's just me, but her story of why she's here seemed, well, rushed. As if she made it up on the spot," Shadow opened one ruby eye and looked at the cat.

"You think she's a spy for Mephiles?"

"Actually, no. Seems too much trouble to become friends and save your enemies if you're planning on killing them later. She had enough opportunities to take at least one of us out - so why not? No, she's on our side, but for a different reason than what she says." Shadow closed both eyes again for a brief moment, then opened them and jumped up, "Damn it, what's taking those three so long? Are they playing a game of Monopoly with Eggman or what?"

"Could they be in danger?" Amy gasped, standing up as well.

"Oh calm down, you two. Three hours gone isn't the end of the world." Blaze leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, "Really, what would Eggman do if he caught them anyways?"

XXXXXXXXX

"If you don't hold that flashlight still, hedgehog, I will smack you."

"I'd easily get out of the way. No chance on earth, Egghead."

"You want to be stuck in the dark forever, or are you going to help me fix this light?"

"Oh, the things I could do to this place while you're still crawling around, looking for the flashlight…" _Smack!_ "Ouch!"

Silver sighed as he listened to the two enemies squabble. The fake purple emerald actually blew the fuses of the main generator over a hundred meters away, and after managing to put the fake jewel back (with little difficulty) the two hedgehogs set off with Dr. Eggman to restore power to the place (with major difficulty).

"Ok Silver, _you_ hold the flashlight. Fancy feet here can't hold still for one second in his life."

"Well _excuuuusssseeee_ me, princess!"

"Make yourself useful - sit down and shut up!"

Silver could tell that Sonic had stuck out his tongue at Eggman, even though it was childish and pointless, since Eggman couldn't see his face anyways. Silver handed the box of parts to Sonic and took the flashlight from him, shining the light down on the open panel so the doctor could see.

"At least somebody is useful around here," Eggman grumbled, fiddling with the wires inside. A thump and a small gust of wind signaled to Silver that Sonic had dropped the box and ran off to explore.

"Bloody hedgehog," Eggman snapped, setting the panel back into place, "Sonic, flip the main switch on, will you?" No response.

"Sonic? I'm still here too, ya know. At least turn on the light for me!" Silver called out. No reply came from the blue hedgehog.

"Where the hell did he go off to?" Eggman asked, more to himself than Silver, as he turned the generator back on. Immediately the lights flashed on, and Silver saw stars for a moment from the sudden brightness.

A loud humming noise filled the room, as if a thousand bees were crawling in the walls. Silver turned to Dr. Eggman, "Is that the generator?"

"No, it can't be…it's never done this before." Eggman headed for the door that lead back into the hallway, and Silver followed, "Sonic, what the hell have you done this time?"

Sonic was in the hallway alright, but something was quite right with him. The blue hedgehog was to the left, his back towards the other two, and staring at a bright purple object floating about eight feet off the ground.

"That's the fake Emerald," Silver whispered.

Eggman called out, "Sonic, what's with you?" He started towards Sonic, as the blue hedgehog did not seem to have heard him, "Hello?"

As soon as Eggman laid a hand on Sonic's shoulder, the purple Emerald stopped glowing and fell to the ground, lifeless - and Sonic's eyes glazed over as he fainted.

XXXXXXXXX

After helping a sleepy Tails downstairs, Knuckles was sent back upstairs to fetch a number of books Tails requested so he could look up some more on the fake Emeralds.

While he was passing the downstairs bathroom, however, the echidna heard some cursing from the room. He opened the door just a crack, and stared in shock at Isis glaring at the mirror, a pair of false, humanoid teeth on the counter…

And a set of razor-sharp, vampire-like fangs in Isis' mouth.

XXXXXXXXX

Rouge was easily able to sneak past the security systems in Dr. Eggman's base, and now was hacking into his computer. Well, ok, not really - the computer was already on and the doctor logged in, so really she was just searching it.

Most of the stuff was technical mumbo-jumbo that Rouge could barely, if at all, understand, so she easily brushed it aside. However, there was one thing that caught her eye, and it easily chilled her to her core:

_Message from Mephiles the Dark 2:17 AM_

_My offer is simple - you capture and give me Sonic the Hedgehog. I'll take him far away from here so he'll never bother you again. You can take over this world, and I have my prize._

_Do we have a deal?_

XXXXXXXXX

Eggman simply stared at Sonic as Silver rushed over, "Sonic! Are you alright?"

"He fainted," Eggman said, the initial shock gone. He bent down next to the blue hedgehog and shook his shoulder, "He's not gonna wake up any time soon. I should have something that smells strong enough in the kitchen to bring him back. Let's go." Dr. Eggman scooped the blue hedgehog into his arms and walked down the hallway. Silver followed, carrying the strange, false gem.

XXXXXXXXX

Knuckles slowly backed away from the bathroom, and turned around to see Isis standing there in the hallway, the sharp tips of her two canines showing from beneath her lips.

Before the echidna could even make a sound, Isis pushed him into the bathroom, shut the door behind them with her foot and slapped a hand over Knuckles' mouth, "Don't freak! It's ok!" Isis whispered.

Knuckles yanked Isis' hand down and shouted in a whisper, "Ok? You're a fucking _vampire_!"

"I'm not a vampire! These are my natural teeth, ok? Everyone on my planet has had their teeth surgically altered to look like this. I'm _not_ a blood-sucking monster! These teeth are designed to threaten people, deal damage in combat and bite through hard objects. And I don't bite unless provoked!"

"How can I trust you?" Knuckles asked, eyes narrowing.

"Buddy, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already. I'm not going to attack you. Will you attack me?"

"…no." Isis let Knuckles go, and the echidna looked at Isis' mouth, "So, what's with the false teeth?"

"They're teeth caps. I place them over my real teeth to hide their appearance. It keeps people from freaking out."

"…Can I see all of your real teeth?" Isis nodded and slightly opened her mouth, curling back her lips. Instead of human teeth, with only a few pointy ones and the others flat, or teeth like Knuckles and Sonic, who had more sharp ones that flat, or Shadow, who had _all_ fangs (although Shadow had said that the back ones were flat on top, allowing for grinding while still looking intimidating), Isis' teeth were true fangs. Each and every tooth looked like a miniature vampire canine, except, of course, for the canine teeth, which were full-size. They were perfectly aligned, pearly white, and looked deadly. "Creepy," Knuckles said.

Isis nodded her agreement and closed her mouth. She went back to the mirror and picked up the teeth caps. "These things get loose every so often, and they're hard to put back in when you can't see. I'd prefer not to wear them, but if you smile with a mouth full of fangs, people freak. I didn't want you guys to panic as well."

"Seems useless to have those teeth if you can't bite with them," Knuckles said.

"I can, actually. See these?" Isis flipped the tooth cap over, and on the underside of each false tooth was a hole, "These are big enough for my fangs to go through. I can bite and leave a mark looking completely different from the teeth people see."

"Must be a bitch to clean, though." Knuckles replied.

"It is." The two were silent for a moment while Isis placed the teeth caps over her teeth and licked her lips. Her fangs were now hidden behind the false plastic covers, but Knuckles simply could not imagine anything else but sharp, deadly teeth there instead.

Isis turned back to the echidna, "Look, Knuckles, I know that must have freaked you out, but don't tell anyone. Well, I suppose you could but…you know…"

"I get it," Knuckles replied, "No worries."

Isis breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you."

Knuckles headed to the stairwell while Isis went back to the living room; the echidna a little more wary of their new companion.

XXXXXXXXX

"Mephiles said nothing of what he wanted to _do_ with Sonic…would Eggman actually…?" Rouge scrolled down to Eggman's reply.

_Message from Dr. Eggman 2:23 AM_

_What exactly do you want with Sonic?_

The messages continued - these seemed to have been sent only this morning.

_Message from Mephiles the Dark 2:26 AM_

_A little act of revenge is all. Why does it even matter? You get rid of the blue pest and I get him. We both get we want. You have caught Sonic before - just do it again!_

X

_Message from Dr. Eggman 2:30 AM_

_Sonic's nearly impossible to keep caged. He'd free himself for your grasp within two days. You can't possibly keep him under control._

X

_Message from Mephiles the Dark 2:32 AM_

_I have my ways, Doctor. He cannot, and will not, break away from me. And as an added bonus, feel free to send any of his pesky friends along with him. I'll keep them out of your hair while you take over the world. Imagine - finally beating Sonic the Hedgehog after all this time!_

X

_Message from Dr. Eggman 2:35 AM_

_I probably _could_ catch Sonic and hold onto him long enough for you to collect him - but what's the point of going through so much trouble if he'll break free anyways? You'll need to provide me with a better bargaining tool than a simple chance of keeping Sonic away from me._

X

_Message from Mephiles the Dark 2:36 AM_

_Will a bonus of $100,000 - delivered before you even catch the hedgehog - do?_

X

_Message from Dr. Eggman 2:45 AM_

…_I'll think about it. _

X

Rouge let out a small laugh, wondering if Eggman would even be willing to 'think' about it if Mephiles had gone into detail, saying something along the lines of, 'I want to capture Sonic so I can use him as my bed slave, violently raping him every day of his life - not only will it break him mentally, but he'll be too sore to run anymore. That'll keep him in line.'

The sound of footsteps made Rouge look at the door. Someone was coming down the hallway - perhaps Dr. Eggman, although even if he wasn't coming in here, better safe than sorry. There was nothing else here for her to see, anyways.

Rouge quickly jumped back to the air ventilator and crawled in, expertly shutting the vent behind her. Why people never made their vents too small to crawl through, Rouge would never understand…

XXXXXXXXX

A teaspoon of chili pepper poked into Sonic's nose made the blue hedgehog waken almost immediately, sitting up on the kitchen table and coughing, his eyes watering from the sharpness of the smell. Silver handed him a glass of water, which Sonic eagerly chugged down.

"What was _that_ for?" Sonic wheezed, the pepper stinging his nose.

"To revive you. You fainted." Eggman took the ceramic mug from Sonic and refilled it from the kitchen tap. He handed it back to the hedgehog, who took slower gulps this time.

"I did?" Sonic managed to say between swallows of water, "I don't remember that…"

Sonic paused for a moment, trying to remember. He had felt like someone was in the hallway…he had gone into the hallway…he had seen the bright purple light, and…

Flashback. On his hands and knees, Mephiles mounting him for the gods-knows what time now. One time was already too much. Hands on his hips, yanking him back as…as Mephiles' organ was thrust forward into his defenseless body. A slap on his ass, Mephiles riding him like there was no tomorrow. Eyes shut tight, trying to keep the tears in - fingers digging into the rug, needing to try and gain some control. But Sonic had no control in this situation. All he could do was choose how much soap to wash with and how much cream to apply afterwards.

It hadn't occurred ten minutes ago, no - even while the flashback was occurring Sonic knew that he wasn't being raped at that moment. But the fear was real, and it made him want to blank out his mind, to hide and get away - which resulted in him fainting.

"_Why is it when I have these flashbacks while asleep I wake up, and when I have them while awake I go to sleep? That makes no sense!"_

"Are you alright, Sonic? You were shaking for a second there." Sonic turned to look at Silver, who had placed a hand on his side.

"Eh, I'm ok. Just a little cold there for a sec." Sonic hopped off of the table and turned to face Eggman, "Thanks, I guess."

Eggman simply nodded, but then his eyes narrowed, "What do you want, hedgehog?"

"What do you mean by that?" Sonic replied, faking confusion.

"Don't try that with me. You _snuck_ into my base. It's one thing if you smash your way in - sneaking is in another category. What were you looking for?"

"…nothing."

"Sonic…"

"Chaos Emeralds," Silver piped up. The other two turned to look at the silver hedgehog which took a deep breath and continued, "You've heard about this dark hedgehog that has appeared recently, right?"

Dr. Eggman nodded, "Go on."

"Well, he's looking for the Chaos Emeralds, so we're trying to get them first. We just wanted to make sure that you didn't have any in storage, that's all."

"I see…" Eggman replied, slowly looking back and forth between the two hedgehogs.

Silver gulped slightly - that was sort of the truth, and of course a scanner could have picked up the fake Emeralds and they would have mistaken them for the real ones - but would Eggman buy it hook, line and sinker?

"Then you can leave now. The only Emeralds I have here are fake. However if you do manage to find any other false ones, leave them outside. I'll see if I can disarm the annoying things before they pop up all over the place."

Silver sighed - it seems Eggman took the first two, but was thinking about the sinker. Well, at least it would do for now.

"Fine then," Sonic said, turning to leave the room, "Let's go, Silver. See ya, Eggy."

This time the two hedgehogs exited through the front door, with Eggman's cameras closely watching them. Once the huge door slammed shut behind them and the two hedgehogs were a few dozen meters away, Sonic turned to Silver and said, "Quick thinking on your part. I think he bought it."

"I think so too. At least now we know about the false Emeralds, but we know nothing about whose side Eggman is on…"

"Well, I do," Rouge said, landing in front of the pair. She looked at Sonic with a small hint of pity in her eyes, "And I'm afraid, Sonic, it isn't looking good for you."

XXXXXXXXX

A quick scan was done through the books for any hints on fake Emeralds, but for the most part everyone was waiting for Sonic, Silver and Rouge to get back. A good four and a half hours had passed before the trio walked in.

"It's about time you guys returned! Where the hell was the base - on the moon?" Knuckles asked, glaring at the doorway before they even walked in. Everyone's expressions were either of annoyance or relief - the relief being of the kind, 'it's about freaking time', but they all changed once Sonic walked into the room. His face looked pale and his eyes frightened as he shakily made his way onto the couch and collapsed, his head in his hands.

"Sonic? What's wrong?" Amy asked.

"Mephiles is trying to bribe Eggman to capture and sell Sonic to him," Rouge replied, stretching her wings as she walked in, Silver not far behind.

"With what?" Shadow asked.

"A hundred grand plus freedom from Sonic and anyone else he chooses."

"Eggman wouldn't _sell_ Sonic to that monster!" Amy growled.

"Mephiles didn't mention a single thing about what he wanted with Sonic - the messages were sweet and innocent. Eggman could easily accept the offer - especially since he'll get the money even before he catches Sonic." Rouge sat down on the coffee table and leaned back on her hands, "If I were Eggman, with no knowledge that selling Sonic to that creep would mean that Sonic would be raped, I'd do it."

"I would too, to be honest. Seems like a good deal - a cash prize for permanently getting rid of someone that drives you crazy and ruins all of your plans. No downside to that at all. I suppose if I hated the person enough, even if I knew they'd be raped I'd catch 'em anyways. But from what I understand, Sonic and Eggman have a love-hate relationship, so I don't think Eggman would go that far." Isis was sitting on the floor close to the far corner of the room, looking around at everyone else.

"A 'love-hate' relationship?" Knuckles asked.

"Sure. They work with each other when someone else is trying to take over or destroy the world, but hate each other the rest of the time."

"Yeah…that's how it works between me and Eggy," Sonic whispered, looking up and managing a small smile.

"This is bad. Really bad. The last thing we need is for Eggman to try and capture Sonic. Most of the time Eggman's plots fail easy, but every so often he comes up with a whopper that takes a lot of time to deal with. If he brings out one of those and if Mephiles attacks at the same time…" Tails trailed off. There was no need to say out loud what everyone already knew - that meant bye bye Sonic, both physically and mentally.

"Then we have to recruit Eggman first. We need to come up with a better bribe," Blaze said, "Together I'm sure we can pool enough money to go over Mephiles' offer…but for the other part…if I was an evil overlord, I'd be happy with the hero gone, no problem."

"Ok…maybe we can, oh, I dunno, give Eggman a day's head start when he first announces an evil plan? Or give him a few Chaos Emeralds?" Knuckles shrugged, "Just brainstorming here."

"They're good ideas - we can even do a combination of a few smaller things," Amy added.

"Or we could just threaten him," Shadow snorted.

"I vote for Shadow's plan," Isis called out.

"If we did that, then he'd quickly go over to Mephiles' side, you know," Silver pointed out.

"I know that, but it seems easiest, and the most entertaining," Isis replied.

"Forget about threats. We need loyalty out of love, not hate here," Rouge said, looking at Shadow and Isis.

"Well, the best way to do that is to find out what Eggman wants, and then offer it to him," Isis said, "But if he wants to take over the world…eh…that won't go over well."

"We might not even have to do that - if we just expose Mephiles and show proof to Eggman about what Mephiles will do to Sonic, it might be enough to get him change sides," Blaze suggested.

"Brilliant, Blaze! Eggman's pretty evil, but he's not _that_ evil! I think he's got enough of a heart to be horrified at that stuff. Only problem is how do we get the proof…" Tails put his chin in his hands, "Hmm…"

"No problem, Tails. Leave it to me," Isis declared, standing up, "When it comes to thievery and gathering info, you can rarely find an equal."

"I happen to be a pretty good thief myself, Isis," Rouge said, smiling, "Are you sure you can do it alone?"

"Alone? Sure. But it's safer if we go in a group. You game?"

"I'm in as well, then. If we're sneaking into Mephiles' base, we'll need speed to get in there, and to find the damn thing," Shadow added, standing up as well.

"Three's a good team. We'll sleep well tonight, search for the base tomorrow afternoon, and enter at night," Rouge looked at Isis, "Sounds good?"

"You know this guy better than I do. I'm at your command," Isis replied.

Shadow's eyes narrowed at the sentence. For the some strange reason, he was sure that Isis was lying…

XXXXXXXXX

"Now that that's settled, we need to plan to make some money. Who's got some money they can throw in?" Silver asked.

"I have around ten thousand on me. Let me check…" Isis dug through her backpack, silently counting the wadded bills and loose change, "$10,493.45 to be precise."

"That's already a tenth of what we need. Anyone else?" Tails asked.

"Well, for saving the world and stuff, I probably could get some money from the government…" Sonic said, running a hand through his quills, "But I don't think I'll be able to get a hundred thousand without being suspicious. And certainly not if I tell them it's for Eggman."

"They owe you something for sure…or do you guys work to pay for everything?" Isis asked, gesturing to the items around the room.

"No, we basically get everything we ask for from the government for free. I suppose since we don't go asking for private jets or luxury cruises or summer mansions they don't mind paying for a new couch or television every so often. And of course we get all of our food and my machine parts for free," Tails replied.

"Hey, it's the least they can do. If you guys don't exploit them, there's no reason to cut you off. And if they did, they'd be fucked."

"Exactly."

"Come to think of it…don't you two work for the government?" Isis pointed at Shadow and Rouge.

"Well, yes, but we're both on a forced vacation." Rouge replied.

"A what?"

"Neither of us takes time off often, and since we do a lot of overtime eventually our vacation days pile up and they force us to take a holiday," Rouge explained.

"In other words, if we keep working for so long they'd have to pay us more, so they lock us out to keep our wages lower," Shadow added.

"Really? You guys don't make that much?"

"Oh, we make quite a bit, but I certainly haven't been working long enough to be able to spare 90 grand."

"I didn't expect you guys to pay that much! But could you spare a little?"

"Sure…about five thousand apiece, I think. Rouge?" Shadow looked at the bat over his shoulder.

"I can do that, no problem," Rouge replied, "That gives us a fifth of the total money we need."

"We could rob a bank," Isis shrugged, "Oh for crying out loud, I was kidding! Don't look at me like that! I can get a job, I'm sure. There should be a few things around this planet that pay a lot in a short period of time."

"Prostitution does," Rouge smiled, "A hundred bucks an hour."

"I meant _besides_ that! Or being a pimp."

"An assassin probably would make a lot," Shadow said, "Or a drug smuggler."

"Those I could do."

"If we have to get jobs, couldn't they at least be legal?" Amy sighed.

"The ones that pay the most aren't legal, sadly. But we'll think of something." Rouge turned to look at Sonic, "Hey, you haven't really said anything this whole time! Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Sonic said quietly, "Just nervous, that's all."

"Don't worry, Sonic. I'm sure we'll be able to act quickly enough to get Eggman on our side. You'll be safe," Knuckles said, patting Sonic on the back.

Sonic bit his lip, but didn't say anything else as everyone continued to brainstorm ideas. Time was key here - if they didn't act fast enough, Eggman would accept Mephiles' offer - and then…

No. He had to do everything in his power to defeat Mephiles - to save his home, his friends, and himself. But there was no way they could get enough cash by flipping burgers…

"_Oh, what the hell. It's not like I haven't done this before."_

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow, Rouge and Isis had turned in early for the night, the last gratefully accepting Tails' invitation to sleep on the fold-out couch instead of the chilly streets. Tails went to bed not much later, still tired from his first training day and needing to be fully rested for tomorrow. Silver was up the longest, along with Amy - together they had written down everyone's ideas, and after organizing them went to sleep as well, tired from the day.

It was past midnight before Sonic could sneak out of the house, his lover not present in bed with him that night for they needed their rest. Earlier that evening he had contacted the CEO of a toy company that had a certain fondness for the blue hedgehog. Surely he would be able to get some money out of the man.

They had arranged a time and a place, and on the edge of a school park the CEO drove up in a simple dark blue car - not too expensive, but not too cheap either. It was clean and well maintained, and it helped Sonic to calm his pounding heart as he slipped into the front passenger seat.

"Thanks for meeting with me," Sonic said, glancing at the man. Bob, as he was so cursed with an uncreative name, looked over at the blue hedgehog and smiled.

"Anything for you, Sonic," Bob said, giving Sonic a squeeze on the shoulder. Bob started up the car, and they drove away. Both were silent while Bob made his way out of the city, finally driving up a mountain path. Sonic's heart was beating faster with every passing mile. But there was no other option - if he didn't go through with this, it would mean complete disaster for everyone.

After fifteen minutes Bob turned down a gravel road, almost completely hidden from the road, and drove on. Another five minutes more, and the car was on the rocky beach, overlooking a quiet lake. No one else was in sight for miles and miles - just the cries of owls and whispers in the wind.

Bob put on the parking brake and turned off the engine. He flicked on an extra light overhead, filling the vehicle with a soft orange glow, bright enough to see inside but dull enough that it'd be hard to spot from anywhere else.

"So what'll it be?" Sonic asked after a couple of silent minutes.

"You can take me around the world." Bob's smile, just a few short minutes ago being a friendly, child-loving one, had become predatory. Bob's eyes looked up and down Sonic's body - a body that belonged to someone almost forty years his junior.

"Ok then…you have the money?"

"Sure do." Bob reached into his pocket and grabbed a thick wallet. He slowly opened it, and one by one placed twenty hundred-dollar bills into Sonic's hand, "Two thousand, just as we agreed."

"I said five thousand, remember?"

"I prefer to go without a sleeve. Two thousand with, ten without…" Bob smiled at Sonic, trying to get the hedgehog to give in. He was used to getting what he wanted, including expensive cars, raises…and now, one of his sexual fantasies he had only admitted to a few who shared his lust.

Sonic shook his head. While he would almost kill for the extra cash, it wasn't worth the risk. Besides, this wasn't new to him anyways. He could stand doing it a few more times. "I don't want a disease. No thanks."

The only reason Sonic knew about Bob's want for him was because once at a fancy party, they had been alone in the public bathroom together and he had grabbed Sonic's rear end, whispering his lust for the blue hedgehog in the hero's ear. If they had been alone at that moment, Sonic probably would have torn Bob limb from limb, but with a huge crowd only a thin door away Sonic simply cursed a few times and fled from the scene.

Even two years later, nothing had changed. Bob was rich, he wanted to hump Sonic and he knew others that wanted to hump Sonic - a creepy combination, but one that would pay extremely well in a short time. Just what Sonic needed.

Of course, the only problem was Sonic's lover…if they ever found out about this, they might abandon him forever. Sonic's heart ached with the thought of losing them…

"_But I have to. If I don't do this, then I'll lose everything, including you. Please forgive me, my angel…"_

Bob's eyes turned dark, and his smile cold with Sonic's refusal to go without protection. "Fine." Bob unzipped his pants and motioned to the back seat while slipping a condom over his growing erection, "Get over there. I'm gonna ride your ass hard tonight."


	10. Inside

For selling himself for the first time, it wasn't all that bad.

Perhaps it was due to the fact Sonic had gotten used to being roughly invaded from Wario. Maybe because lately he had dreamed of Mephiles mounting him almost every night, the idea of being used as a sex toy and meaning nothing more to the other person wasn't a big deal again.

Or it could be because Sonic pretended it was Shadow taking him, and not some seriously messed-up human. The idea of humans wanting sex with him didn't bother Sonic as much as the fact that there was a secret group that actually talked about what they'd do if they got to hump him in great detail. Talk about an obsession.

A sharp yank on one of his head quills brought Sonic back to the present. He was on his hands and knees in the backseat of a car, with a naked human man holding onto his hips and enjoying himself a little too much for Sonic's taste.

While Bob wasn't as rough as the mind-controlled Wario was, _"Or as big," _Sonic thought with a silent sigh of relief, this sex was still painful. Every thrust sent jolts of pain through Sonic's body, with the deepest humps tearing tissue and muscle that had taken over a month to heal last time.

"Shadow wouldn't be doing this to me," Sonic mumbled to himself, "I wish it was him instead…"

"What was that?" Bob gasped, panting from lust.

"Nothing. You finished there, or what?"

"Not yet…you're so freaking _tight_…" Bob began to speed up his thrusts, "Spread your legs apart a little more, will ya?"

Sonic silently obeyed, his right leg nearly slipping off the seat while his left was pressed against the seat back. The human moaned and slapped Sonic's ass a few times, still grinding deep into the hedgehog's body. Sonic sighed and looked down, no pleasure running through his body. It was difficult to distract himself, especially when Bob reached between Sonic's legs, fumbling around for the hedgehog's pouch, "Show me your sweet little dick, Sonic…"

X

_Shadow reached between Sonic's legs, expertly locating Sonic's hidden pouch and softly rubbing the opening, "It'll help distract you from the pain, Sonic. I'll go as slow as I can, but there's going to be a little pain, regardless of what I do. Just relax…"_

_The black hedgehog bent down to the tip of Sonic's organ beginning to poke out from the pouch. Shadow licked and nuzzled at Sonic's stiffening organ, moans of pleasure escaping from the blue hedgehog's mouth. Slowly sucking Sonic's erection, Shadow relaxed his blue lover, who in turn pushed the black hedgehog over and started to return the favor. _

X

Bob attempted to push his pointer and middle fingers inside Sonic's pouch, and Sonic's body naturally reacted to having a foreign object in a sensitive place, attempting to press the muscles together to block the invader from getting in.

"Fuck! Why you…" Bob yanked out of Sonic's backside and flipped the blue hedgehog onto his back, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

X

_After making sure every bit of his fingers were coated with lubricant, Shadow rubbed Sonic's tummy as he pushed his pointer finger into his lover's backside. The tight, silky muscles immediately squeezed Shadow's finger, but soon relaxed, allowing for another one. Shadow began stretching Sonic's entrance, preparing the younger hedgehog for what was to come. _

_Once Sonic's muscles were relaxed, Shadow removed his fingers and lubricated his erection, wanting to satisfy his needs as well. Sonic whimpered as Shadow spread his legs apart, gently pushing himself in between. Shadow looked at Sonic's face and kissed the two tears that had escaped the blue hedgehog's eyes and were trailing down his cheeks, "Sonic, if you want me to stop, just say so. Sex is supposed to be for you and me, not just me. I won't do anything that you don't want me to."_

X

"Answer me, you little whore! What the fuck are you doing?" Bob screamed at Sonic, his thumbs digging into Sonic's hips. He leaned over the blue hero, face red with anger and teeth clenched together.

"We never agreed on you touching me there," Sonic said calmly, "If you want access, that'll be extra."

"How much?" Bob growled.

"A thousand."

Bob thought carefully for a moment, and then said, "I'll give you two if I can finger your ass, and get an extra blowjob."

"I already sucked you off. You're not getting a second round."

"You got a better deal?"

"Six thousand for the whole deal - a blowjob, fingering, and the humping."

Bob sat up with a start, his naked body a soft orange in the light, "I can get that for less than three hundred bucks from any ordinary hooker!"

"I'm no ordinary hooker - and I really need the money. I wouldn't have contacted you if I wasn't this desperate."

The CEO looked down on the young hedgehog, and slowly nodded, "Six thousand for that, and the extra blowjob."

"Alright." At least Sonic was able to up the price a bit. Less than ten clients at this price and he'd have already earned all the money he needed.

Bob looked between Sonic's spread legs, and then reached into the small compartment between the two front seats. He opened the lid, took out a small package and tried to open it.

"What are you doing?" Sonic asked, "Don't you already have a condom on?"

"I do," Bob said a little icily, "These are baby wipes. I don't care to get blood on my fingers."

"Wha-?" Sonic sat up on his elbows and looked between his legs. A small trickle of blood was coming from his entrance and forming a small pool on the dark leather seat. "Oh, I see."

"I'll just clean you up here," Bob said, smacking his lips together as he roughly wiped Sonic's entrance, "And you'll be ready to go again."

X

"_We got a little carried away, Sonic. You're bleeding." Shadow came back into his bedroom with a wet cloth, the blue hedgehog lying on his back, panting from the sex they had had until Shadow noticed a bit of blood coming from Sonic's entrance. Shadow had then pulled out and left the room, Sonic calling after him why they didn't finish. Once Shadow had returned, he made Sonic lie on his stomach and then held the cloth against Sonic's backside. "We'd better stop for tonight."_

_Sonic was still panting, his love for Shadow and lust for sex with the dark hedgehog overriding any pain from his torn inner tissues, "Shads, come on! I'm ok! Let's keep going."_

_The black hedgehog shook his head, "I know you didn't get to release, and for the record I didn't either. But if we keep going, I could damage you quite a bit. You know how rowdy we get when we have sex." _

_The blue hedgehog looked up at his lover, his eyes sparkling like emeralds in the starlight, "Please, Shadow…you know how good it makes me feel when we make love, especially since…I thought no one would ever want to." _

_Shadow quickly lowered his head while his left hand turned Sonic's head towards him. He kissed the blue hedgehog, slowly and sweetly. He pulled away after a bit and whispered into his lover's ear, "Don't you dare think that for a moment. You're the greatest lover anyone in the whole world could have…and I'm so lucky that you chose me." _

X

Thrusting his pointer finger in and out of the blue hedgehog while sticking two fingers on his other hand into Sonic's pouch, Bob was testing Sonic, and smiled with the results, "Nice and tight everywhere. After a fucking you go back to being tight again, like nothing has ever happened. Nice…" Bob smiled, removing his fingers and grabbing the hedgehog's hips.

"Lubricant," Sonic said, sitting up on his elbows. Bob grumbled and little, put paused to put a squeeze of the gel onto his erection before entering Sonic once more. Sonic clenched his teeth together at the first few thrusts, "Not so fast." Bob didn't seem to care, only pushing harder to penetrate the tight muscles pressing together with the pain.

Eventually Sonic's body relaxed, allowing Bob to speed up. The human once again seemed to forget who was thrusting into and focused on his own pleasure, eyes closed and moaning in satisfaction. Knowing that Bob was too busy to do anything else and lying on his back with an erection once again jammed into his backside, Sonic simply placed his hands behind his head and waited for Bob to finish.

The moon was only a sliver of silver light from behind the clouds, and the trees were slowly waving in the soft breeze outside. Sonic sighed. Out there, it was calm and peaceful. That's where Sonic belonged - not in the back of a car with someone he barely knew, selling his body.

X

_Shadow insisted that they waited until Sonic stopped bleeding. Once he did, the black hedgehog added more lubricant and then carefully pushed back inside his lover's tight ring of muscles, making sure Sonic had plenty of time to adjust. Shadow then pulled all the way out and then went back in again, starting slow at first but gradually speeding up his humps._

_Sonic hips thrust upwards with every hump, wanting Shadow deeper inside. The blue hedgehog grabbed Shadow's shoulders and wrapped his legs around the black hedgehog's slim waist, moaning in pleasure from the continued thrusts into his body. The black hedgehog grinned, slipping his right hand around Sonic and gently pushing just below Sonic's neck, forcing the blue hedgehog to sit up a little more so Shadow could pull him into a deep kiss._

"_More Shadow…please, more!" Sonic cried out, Shadow thrusting into him hard. _

_Shadow moved around a little. Once he found Sonic's prostate, he began slamming into it as hard as he could without injuring his lover. "Do you like that?" Shadow purred, enjoying every cry of pleasure from Sonic's lips._

"_Yes, oh yes! Make me yours, Shadow!" _

_The two hedgehogs kissed again, Shadow chuckling softly once they pulled away, "You are mine, Sonic, just like I am yours."_

X

Sonic let out a gasp at a particularly painful thrust, but Bob didn't seem to notice. Instead, Bob grabbed Sonic's ankles and pushed them closer to Sonic's chest, allowing for more access into the blue hedgehog's body. Sonic struggled to get into a more comfortable position; basically impossible due to the rough sex and death-like grip on his ankles. Now he was nearly curled into a ball, with his feet right above his head. After a couple of minutes in that position, Bob grabbed both of Sonic's ankles in one hand and pushed them against the seat back. This tightened Sonic's muscles more; giving more pleasure to Bob's already pleased erection.

Despite the extra pressure, Bob simply plowed on through the tightness; Sonic feeling more tissue tear. His prostate was hit a few times, but with the random thrusting it wasn't enough to make Sonic feel that good. It was simply another sign on how Bob didn't care about anything but himself - and Sonic suspected it wasn't just himself who went through this with Bob. No wonder the guy had to hire prostitutes to get any action.

Another sharp jolt of pain went through Sonic's body, and the hedgehog winced. He was going to be sore tomorrow.

X

_Pleasure was building up inside both hedgehogs. Shadow and Sonic had been fighting with their tongues, and eventually Sonic had managed to push Shadow back into his mouth. Tracing Shadow's teeth and poking the dark hedgehog's tongue with his own, Sonic had been sure he had won, until Shadow removed one hand from Sonic's hips and put it in between his lover's legs._

_Sonic gasped and pulled away from Shadow as the black hedgehog began pumping his erection, speeding up his climax, "No fair, Shadow! I won your mouth and you know it!"_

_Shadow chuckled at his blue lover, who was pouting good-naturedly at Shadow's extra attention, "Well, I suppose since you hand yourself over to me, I should hand over myself to you, hmm?" _

_Shadow didn't have a chance to say any more as Sonic grabbed his head quills and pulled him into another kiss, only pausing for a moment to say, "Damn right, Shadzie."_

X

Pleasure was building up in Bob. With both of Sonic's slim ankles in one hand he pushed the fingers on his other hand into Sonic's pouch. It took a lot of willpower from Sonic to keep his muscles from clenching up again as the fingers squirmed their way inside his body.

It only took a few more thrusts for Bob to finish. The human let out a deep sigh, still inside Sonic, "That…was great…"

"Yeah…uh…are you going to pull out now, or…?" With a grunt, Bob yanked out of Sonic, and then slipped the condom off and tossed it to the ground.

"You owe me more sucking, Sonic…" Bob panted, pinching Sonic's tail.

"Get another condom on first," Sonic replied, sitting upright. Sonic's backside ached, but at least the worst was over.

After the protection was in place, Bob pushed Sonic to the car floor and pulled his head up, "Start sucking."

Sonic took the soft organ into his mouth, nibbling the end while pumping the rest. Bob quickly became hard, moaning at the blue hedgehog's attention.

"Faster," Bob panted, "Faster." Sonic obeyed, speeding up to satisfy his customer.

After a little more than five minutes, Bob let out one final groan before releasing. At least Sonic didn't have to taste anything, which was huge improvement compared to Wario. Afterwards, Bob held Sonic's head in place for a few moments to calm down after his climax, Sonic having to keep limp organ in his mouth for a little longer. Then Bob simply started to get dressed and handed Sonic a baby wipe to clean himself, barely acknowledging what the two had just done together.

X

"_Did you enjoy that?" Shadow asked, panting. He looked at the blue hedgehog snuggled up against his chest and wrapped his left arm around Sonic, digging his bare fingers into the blue quills._

"_Yes," Sonic replied, also panting. He pushed his nose into Shadow's white chest and let out a soft sigh, "I love your chest fluff."_

"_Chest _fluff_? Don't you mean chest fur?" _

"_Nope. It's too fluffy to be fur," Sonic said, letting out a little laugh and burrowing deeper into the fluff._

_Shadow laughed as well, "Fine then. Sweet dreams, Sonic. I love you."_

"_I love you too, Shadow."  
_

X

"I enjoyed that, Sonic," Bob said, driving back the way they came. After cleaning up, and getting dressed, Bob drove to the bank to withdraw more cash to pay the blue hedgehog. "If you'd like, I can have another date set up for you tomorrow."

"Fine by me," Sonic replied, "Boy or girl?"

"Depends on what I can get. Same price as for me?" Sonic nodded. "We'll have to see, then."

"I'll call you tomorrow afternoon. Don't call me - I rarely answer the phone anyways," Sonic said as Bob pulled away from the bank's drive-through window. He counted the bills three times to make sure there was enough, and then tucked the money into his left glove.

"Alright with me. By afternoon I should have a few clients set up - when I tell them about your nice, tight ass, they'll be willing to pay the high price."

"They'd better," Sonic grumbled, tired and simply wanting to get home.

"Shall I drop you off here again?" Bob asked, pulling up to the park corner.

"It's fine. Thanks." Sonic opened the door and got out of the car, "And tell your friends that if they won't use protection, I'm not interested." He slammed the door shut.

"Yeah, yeah…" Bob grinned at the blue hedgehog, "Sweet dreams, Sonic. I know I'll have them, because I loved having sex with you."

XXXXXXXXX

Having arrived back home at three in the morning, Sonic slept until past noon. Finally getting up at a quarter past twelve, after taking a shower he made his way downstairs to ask Tails where his lover was.

Tails was busy in his workshop trying to figure out a way to guard the Chaos Emeralds the group had already collected; covering their energy up so Mephiles wouldn't know they had the gems.

"Your hedgehog isn't here," Tails immediately said once Sonic asked, "They've gone to get some cash to help with our bribe."

"Oh," Sonic said, "Well, I can help with that." Sonic dropped the wad of twenty and fifty dollar bills on the table.

Tails looked up at the sound and picked up the pile. "Six thousand?" Tails asked after counting the bills, "How the hell did you make six thousand dollars so fast?"

"I just asked a CEO of a toy company. After all, since they do have a line of me-themed toys, I felt I was a little entitled."

The fox looked up at Sonic with an eyebrow raised, "Really, now."

"Yes. And I might get even more tonight, depending on how well he can convince some of his friends to buy in."

Tails was about to ask more about the company and the CEO's friends, but he didn't get a chance as Amy rushed downstairs, "Sonic! We have a chance to earn a good two thousand if you hurry up!"

"What would be doing?" Sonic asked as the pink hedgehog ran up to the two.

Amy took a deep breath and rubbed her arm a bit nervously, "Well…you remember that little moneybags, right?"

Both Sonic's and Tails' eyes went wide. "You've _got_ to be kidding me," Sonic said.

"I remember that kid! She wouldn't stop yanking on my tails! Count me out!" Tails said, crossing his arms.

"You're safe, Tails. It'll be me and Sonic who'll have to suffer," Amy replied, sighing.

"Oh boy…how long we will have to stay there?" Sonic asked.

"It'll be about thirty second-graders hyped up on cake, ice cream and fruit punch. We could probably sneak out in under an hour."

"That's not bad for two thousand bucks," Sonic said, admitting that it would be a quick and easy way to get some cash, "I'm in, I guess."

"Sucker," Tails said teasingly, picking up his pencil and looking over his blueprints again.

"I hate you right now, Tails."

"And I hate you too. Now get out of here - you're making me lose my concentration."

"Just please tell me we won't have to do anything extra when we get there, like sing or wear a stupid costume," Sonic sighed, following Amy up the stairs.

Amy turned around and bit her lip, "Well, actually…"

Tails couldn't help but laugh when he heard Sonic groan.

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow and Isis were waiting outside Eggman's base for Rouge to return. She had snuck into the Doctor's base once again to try and track where Mephiles' messages had come from. The Ultimate Life Form leaned against a tall oak tree, the shade providing a nice place to wait - close enough to see the base but far enough away to stay hidden from any cameras or other alarm systems.

"So, you wish to help us because you don't want your friends to be hurt, right?" Shadow asked, looking to his left. Isis was lying down against the tree, eyes closed, but still awake.

"Mm-hmm," Isis replied affirmatively, eyes still shut.

"Seems a little odd if you ask me."

"How so?"

"If your friends are so powerful, they wouldn't need your help. And you could just warn them. Helping us out isn't necessary."

Isis opened her left eye to stare at the dark hedgehog, "You accusing me of lying?"

"Yes."

The psychic laughed and sat up straight, "I like you, Shadow. You never sugarcoat anything."

"Are you trying to change the topic?"

"You bet."

"Did you lie?"

Isis looked at Shadow, the sunlight coming through the remaining dry leaves on the tree making her eyes flash, "Perhaps."

"I didn't sugarcoat anything for you. Will you do the same to me?"

The two stared at each other quietly, black fur and black leather shining with the warm sun. A strong breeze came, rattling the trees and sending a wave of dried leaves onto the pair.

Shadow immediately brushed the leaves out of quills, while Isis let them dangle from her black hair, still looking at the dark hedgehog. Finally, she said, "I guessed that sooner or later one of you may have gotten a little too suspicious. Since I respect you as a fighter, I will tell you - yes, I lied about my reasons for being here and helping you. Are you happy?"

"Why?" Shadow asked, looking at Isis, "Why are you here?"

"That does not concern you."

"Of course it concerns me!" Shadow turned to face Isis, anger beginning to enter his voice, "This fucking madman comes down to my…my home, threatens to take it over and has badly hurt one of the few people I care about! This means a hell of a lot to me!"

Isis stood up as well, looking down at the Ultimate Life Form (only due to being nearly two feet taller) with calm lavender eyes, "I'm surprised, Shadow. You should know by now how to control your anger."

Shadow chuckled, "For me, this _is_ controlled. Two years ago, I would have killed you."

"A human, perhaps, but I am not human. Hurt me, maybe. Killed me? No."

The dark hedgehog glared at Isis, "Do you doubt my power?"

Isis matched Shadow's stare in both anger and power, "Maybe I do, for I do not see why I should tell you anything more."

Another breeze went through the trees, sending another wave of leaves down to the ground.

Without saying a word, both fighters lunged at each other.

XXXXXXXXX

"This stupid crown keeps sliding over my eyes," Sonic muttered to Amy, pushing the gold plastic garland back up to his ears.

"Hey, we won't be here for very long. Just grin and bear it," Amy whispered back as she fiddled with her own tiara. The two hedgehogs were in a small sitting room, just outside of the hotel's grand hall where the little heiress to the Petran fortune was hosting her seventh birthday party. The girl's parents owned a giant chain of jewelry stores and spared no expense for their only child.

The girl, who was named Helen, absolutely loved Sonic and Amy. For two years now her parents had been trying to get the two hedgehogs to play with Helen, but neither could stand the girl. She was bratty enough to start off, but one year ago at a street fair she had grabbed onto one of Tails' namesakes and wouldn't let go. It turned out that with all the sticky candy she had been eating the two were stuck together. Helen had screeched and kicked at Knuckles, who held her tightly while Amy and Sonic attempted to separate the two. After twenty minutes and quite a bit of struggling, Helen went away with yellow fur covering her hands while poor Tails had a good patch of fur missing. At least his fur was thick enough so his tail wasn't bald, but it was still obviously thinner than the rest.

Sonic had no desire to get stuck to any small child - in the past he had managed to get half a bottle of wood glue on his head quills, and sitting around for three hours while Amy painstakingly pulled out all of the ones that they couldn't wash the glue out of was torture. The last thing he needed was a kid tugging at his quills and adding to the pain.

A hotel worker opened the door behind the two hedgehogs and motioned for them to follow. They silently walked down the hallway until they came to a pair of tall wooden doors. "Good luck," the worker said, "You'll need it." He then departed.

Amy looked over at Sonic. The blue hedgehog, much to his annoyance, was wearing a gold plastic crown, a long blue cape and a belt with a sword tucked in the side. Amy herself was wearing a similar outfit, but her cape was pink and she had a sparkly wand accompanying her sword. "Ready?" Amy asked.

Sonic sighed, "Ready as I'll ever be."

XXXXXXXXX

Although Isis did not have super speed, she was surprisingly fast. The fight had been going on for a few minutes now, but neither had scored a good hit.

Shadow ducked a psychic blast from Isis and countered with a Chaos Spear. Once again Isis put up a shield, blocking the attack. Both fighters quickly realized that ranged attacks were useless, as Shadow was too quick and Isis just blocked with shields.

Isis threw a punch at Shadow, well-aimed and strong, but the hedgehog dodged and countered with his own thrust. Isis blocked the attack with her left arm, grabbed Shadow's right arm and slipped behind him, twisting the hedgehog's arm in the process.

Shadow let out a growl and twisted with Isis, ignoring the stabbing pains shooting through his body. Isis let go quickly - a sign that she probably didn't really want to break Shadow's arm. _"Good,"_ Shadow thought, _"She may not be willing to really hurt me, but I'm ready to hurt her badly!"_

The two threw a flurry of punches at each other. Most of them were blocked, but one of Shadow's final ones managed to get through, knocking the wind out of Isis. She rolled backwards and came up on the balls of her feet, staring into Shadow's flashing ruby eyes.

"Giving up already?" Shadow asked, grinning at Isis.

Isis chuckled, "Hardly. Enough with this fist-fight - time to show you some of my abilities!"

A purple light flashed in front of Shadow's eyes, and then the world began to blur. Shadow turned left and right, but everything was spinning so fast he couldn't even begin to figure anything out. He was used to taking in sights at high speeds, but this was too fast for even his powerful eyes to take in. Isis was only a dark blur, only distinguishable from the dark blurs of the trees by her movements.

Isis got a number of powerful hits on Shadow before he managed to snap out of his confusion. Shaking his head back and forth, the dark hedgehog once again focused on his target before slamming into the psychic with his Spin Dash. But before he could roll around for another attack, he was floating in midair.

Shadow struggled against Isis' hold, managing to look around at the psychic. Her eyes were glowing purple, the same color as the thin aura surrounding Shadow as she held him in place with her psychokinesis.

The Ultimate Lifeform chuckled, "Cheater."

Isis smiled back, "Am I really? Don't all things go in a battle?"

Shadow wouldn't even give Isis the satisfaction of flinching when she slammed him into trees and the ground, over and over again. After one final slam into the ground, she let go, and immediately Shadow tackled Isis again.

The two fell onto the ground in a tangle, but even at such close range neither would give up. Shadow immediately grasped Isis around the neck with one hand while holding down her small wrists with his other, thinking she would submit if she ran out of air, but the psychic refused to even acknowledge the fact - simply attacking his exposed belly with psychic blasts.

Isis tried to throw Shadow off of her, but only succeeded at rolling them over, so now she was on top. Shadow tightened his grip on Isis' neck, now becoming a little concerned - he had to have been blocking off Isis' airway completely for a good two minutes now, but she didn't even seem to care. Even Sonic, stubborn as he was and always refusing to give up had to admit defeat after a few minutes with no air. Shadow had even managed to knock Sonic unconscious from lack of air once, but that was (more or less) an accident. The way Isis refused to quit, he was ready to knock her out. Sure, it would be difficult to explain to Rouge later, but it would be worth it just to get under Isis' skin.

Neither of them was going to give up - but now Isis must have gone a good five minutes without air, and showed no signs of weakening. _"She said she wasn't human, though…perhaps her species doesn't need a lot of oxygen, like me."_

That wasn't the only thing different about Isis, though. In one quick attack, Isis bent down and sunk her teeth deep into Shadow's shoulder.

XXXXXXXXX

"Amy, Amy! Come make princess hats with us!" Two young girls wearing princess outfits complete with long dresses, crowns and shoes dragged Amy over to the craft table.

"Sonic! Let's fight!" A young boy ran up to Sonic with his foam sword and swung at the blue hedgehog.

Sonic could have easily jumped out of the way or pulled out his own foam sword to defend, but at the moment he was attempting to fend off a group of girls, including the little rich brat herself, who wanted to dress up Sonic's quills in glitter and hair clips.

"Girls, seriously - my quills are too sharp for that. You'll get hurt." Not entirely true - he could decide whether or not to harden them. Either they'd only be sharp at the tip, or regardless of where you touched them you'd get your finger cut off. And certainly slicing off little kids' fingers wasn't good manners.

"Please, Sonic? It's my birthday!" Helen pleaded, along with the other four girls.

"Sorry, no can do. I have to go find Amy."

"_Princess _Amy," Helen insisted.

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Amy!" Sonic dashed away from the girls over to the craft table where Amy was gluing purple foam stars onto a pink construction paper cone, "Can we leave yet?"

"Soon," Amy promised, "We just have to wait for the photo shoot with each kid. Then we collect our money and scram. The Petrans wanted us to stay longer but I said we had other business to do. As well, I made them promise to quit bothering us."

"You're a life saver," Sonic sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bench, "How much longer?"

"Not much." The pink hedgehog pointed to a corner where a small cardboard castle was being constructed in front of a garden background, "When that's set up, we can start."

"Good. Just the thought of being covered with plastic flowers and butterflies makes me want to run away. I think Eggman would terrify me if he came after me with so much cuteness."

Amy just laughed, "I believe the sword tournament is starting. Go play."

"Yes, ma'am," Sonic replied, doing a quick bow before making his way over to the crowd of kids with foam weapons. _"I wish Shadow or Knuckles were here. The idea of either of them being covered with sparkles and rainbows makes me crack up."_

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow let out a gasp at the surprisingly powerful - and painful - bite. He let go of Isis' neck and pushed her off, sitting up to look at his wound. The bite mark wasn't from ordinary teeth - nine almost perfect round holes were on the front of his left shoulder, and Shadow was positive a matching set was on the back.

The Ultimate Life Form looked at Isis, who was now standing up and panting. Blood dripped from her human-like teeth, but the mark he received looked like that of some sort of carnivore.

"You…you bit me," Shadow said slowly. Isis could see Shadow was attempting to figure out how flat teeth could possibly produce such a mark.

"I did," Isis replied, just as slowly. Then it hit her, _"I fucking bit Shadow. I don't do that during practice fights. I actually _bit_ him. I was really attacking him. If I'm to fix everything -"_

"Stop, stop, both of us, stop," Isis said, shaking her head back in forth, "What the fuck is wrong with me? We're both warriors. We shouldn't be fighting like this. We're acting like little children who've just figured out they have super powers." Isis moved towards Shadow, hands at her sides and shoulders relaxed, "I'll be the first to say it - I acted irrationally and now I've hurt you. We shouldn't be fighting. I'm sorry."

Shadow looked at Isis walking towards him, trying to judge whether or not she was being sincere. She seemed to be truly sorry, so he responded, "I accept your apology. And…and I'm sorry, too."

The two looked around the forest, with Rouge still not around. "So…" Isis said after a minute, kicking the ground with her toe, "I should clean your wound. I can release poison when I bite, although I tried not to with you."

The black hedgehog shook his head, "Not necessary. As the Ultimate Life Form, I am immune to all poisons."

"Suit yourself," Isis said, shrugging, "By the way, define 'Ultimate Life Form.' What do you really mean by it?"

Shadow stood up, swinging his left arm back and forth slowly to try and lessen the tension in his shoulder, "In short terms, it just means I'm extremely fast and powerful, I barely age and I am indestructible."

"I can buy the first three, but I doubt you're indestructible or perfectly immortal." When Shadow narrowed his eyes, Isis held up her hands in defense and smiled back, "Let me explain. To most things, yes, I'm sure they can't kill you, but if I were set off a landmine in your stomach, roll over you with a steamroller, put the remains in a woodchipper, dump that into a volcano and then blow it all up with a hundred atom bombs I'm pretty sure you'll be dead."

Shadow chuckled, "Yeah, I kind of figured that too. Professor Gerald said I could never die, but under those circumstances I think I'd be done for. Normally, I think I'll be alright."

"Me too," Isis replied. She offered her hand, "Truce?"

"Truce," Shadow agreed, shaking it.

XXXXXXXXX

The photographer waved the next child in, "Ok, right between the two hedgehogs - Sonic, straighten your crown, and Amy, hold up that wand. Nancy, tuck your dress in and - one two, three!"

"Three more," Sonic whispered to Amy.

"About time," Amy replied, "I can't wait to get out of here."

In the next picture, the kid jumped up at the last minute and grabbed onto Sonic's crown, pulling the garland over Sonic's eyes and making the hedgehog topple forward. At least the photographer got the shot before Sonic fell over.

"Bloody kids. I don't think I'll ever want children," Sonic grumbled, straightening his crown again. One of the jewels fell off, but Sonic simply threw it to the side not caring about the empty spot.

"Oh, I'm sure you'd change your mind if you knew the child well. What if Tails had a son? Would you never do anything with the kid?" Amy asked.

"Of course I would! My friends' kids would be an exception. But for the most part, I think I'll pass."

Amy just laughed, "I'm sure you'll change your mind later, Sonic."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Alright, last two kids. I can't wait to get out of here."

After the final photo was taken, Sonic and Amy quickly made their way to the door and slipped outside. After collecting the cash from the Petrans (who wouldn't stop thanking the hedgehogs for making it to Helen's birthday) the two dumped their costumes and ran outside.

"Ah, freedom!" Sonic said, jumping into the air, "And an extra five hundred buck bonus! Doesn't that bring us to almost 30,000?"

"Yep! I'll be glad when this is over," Amy replied, walking slowly to the happy Sonic. "I don't like it when you're sad," Amy whispered.

Sonic trotted over to Amy and placed his right hand on her shoulder, "I don't like anyone to be sad. And…I'm doing ok now. But I miss my lover at my side at night. Sure, it's nice to have extra space…" Sonic's eyes met Amy's, and while his still sparkled, it was softer than normal, "With everything going on right now, I need them more than ever."

"I'm sure your lover will be with you tonight," Amy said, smiling and taking Sonic's other hand in her own.

Sonic sighed, "I wish. I have another appointment tonight to see if I can get some more cash. No cuddles for me, I'm afraid."

"Don't worry about it," Amy whispered, moving closer to Sonic, "Love will always come through…"

Sonic smiled, and then squeezed Amy's shoulder and said, "I'm off on a run. I'll be back in an hour or two."

"Take all the time you want. I'll go looking for more opportunities like this one."

"Sounds good - but please, _please_ not so much cuteness next time? I can stand a little, but being surrounded by butterflies, flowers, stars, hearts, kittens, puppies and rainbows in a million different colors is just too much for anyone with any sense!"

Amy laughed, "It was too much for me too. No more little girl parties, I promise."

"Unless it includes chili dogs - then I'm all for it."

"Of course…see you, Sonic."

"Later, Amy." Sonic winked at the pink hedgehog and dashed off; glad he was able to hide the growing fear of what he'd be selling tonight.

XXXXXXXXX

It took over an hour for Rouge to sneak in, trace the messages and sneak out without being detected. So far Eggman hadn't decided whether or not to take Mephiles up on his offer - but if they didn't counter the offer soon, Eggman probably would accept.

Relieved to have finally gotten out of there, Rouge made her way back to Shadow and Isis. The hedgehog and psychic were leaning against a tall oak tree, eyes closed.

"Hey! Were both of you sleeping this whole time…?" Rouge then noticed the white bandage wrapped around Shadow's left shoulder, "What happened? Did something attack you?"

"Oh no, just a friendly brawl," Isis quickly replied, standing up and stretching, "Where to?"

"It's a forest near the ocean, actually quite close to here - only about 500 miles south."

"Great," Shadow grumbled, standing up, "Let's go get something to eat and then start out. I'd rather have full energy when taking Mephiles on."

Rouge nodded and pumped her wings, pushing herself into the sky. She looked down at the two twelve feet below before heading towards the city.

Isis put a hand on Shadow's shoulder before he could start running, "Wait a minute, please. I know you care about Sonic and everyone, and especially with your past, so…" Isis sighed, "I'll tell you why I'm really here."

"Now?"

"After we get through Mephiles' base tonight."

Shadow raised an eyebrow, "You serious?"

"May I die if I don't tell," Isis whispered, placing a hand over her heart.

"_Must be her world's version of, 'cross my heart and hope to die,'" _Shadow thought with a chuckle, "Ok, but don't think I won't hunt you down if you're lying."

"I never go back on my word with a friend. I will tell you." Isis then let her hand drop and raced after Rouge, struggling to think of a way to explain the dilemma.

XXXXXXXXX

When nightfall came, the three set out. With the coordinates Rouge had found, the three had no trouble locating Mephiles' base - at least, where it should have been. The three were on a plateau above the forest, but couldn't see anything that looked remotely like a base.

"It must be below the treetops," Isis sighed, "We'll have to go down and search the whole forest."

"That doesn't make sense. Even if the base was lower than the trees, Mephiles would still have had to clear away trees to make room. And I don't see any clearings whatsoever." Rouge flew back towards Shadow and Isis and landed, "He could have gone underground, but I don't think the soil would support such a thing."

"Are you sure we're in the right spot?" Shadow asked, looking at the forest.

"Yes, I'm positive. It's here…" Rouge crossed her arms over her chest, thinking.

Isis looked at the forest, then at the cliff, and leaped off the edge.

"Isis? What the hell are you doing?" Rouge called out, watching the psychic fall.

In a flash, Isis turned around and grabbed the rocky wall, bringing herself to a complete stop without making a sound. "Get down here and I'll show you," Isis hissed from three dozen meters below.

Rouge and Shadow looked at each other before following. Rouge held Shadow's hand and slowly lowered them to Isis' level, "What is it?"

"Right there," said Isis, pointing at chunk of rock sticking farther out than the rest, "What if Mephiles didn't build his base in the forest? Look at that rock. You could land a small plane on that no problem and it looks like a hole is in the wall."

"You think it's the entrance?" Shadow asked.

"Only one way to find out."

XXXXXXXXX

Bob picked Sonic up from the same corner and same hour as before. He gave the blue hedgehog's shoulder a little squeeze, "Hey there. How's it going?"

"Fine. What's on tonight?" Sonic asked, having no emotion in his voice.

Bob smiled and pulled away from the corner once Sonic had his seatbelt on, "A very good friend of mine recently inherited a large sum of money - and she's happy to spend it on a hero."

"She? So a woman this time?" Bob nodded.

Sonic was a starting to get a little nervous now. Sleeping with a man was one thing - most of the time he was on the bottom - but with a woman, he'd have to make himself aroused. That was going to be difficult, considering all of the stress he was under.

"Something wrong?" Bob asked, giving Sonic a sideways glance.

"No, nothing. She's agreed to use protection?"

"She's on the pill."

"That won't protect me from diseases. No condom, no deal."

Bob's hands tightened on the steering wheel as he pulled onto the highway, "How much would I have to pay to spank your ass for being so fucking picky?"

Sonic shrugged, "A thousand, give or take."

Bob nodded, still driving down the highway, "I have acreage out here. Riley will join us in an hour."

Sonic sighed, "You looking for some action too?"

"Damn right," Bob said. The two were then quiet, and a few minutes later Bob pulled into a long driveway. He parked in front of a medium sized house, a dark grey due to the cloudy night.

Bob unlocked the door and let Sonic walk in, shutting it afterwards. He turned on the lights, and Sonic glanced around the kitchen, with honestly the ugliest wallpaper he had ever seen - pale orange with roosters in a darker orange. Sonic didn't even know such a thing existed.

"Right," Bob said, pushing something against Sonic's back. The hedgehog turned around to see a wad of bills held out to him, "A thousand for the spanking, and another thousand for a blow job."

Sonic looked at the money, and slowly nodded, "With a condom."

"Of course."

The hero sighed, "Alright. What do you want to do first?"

XXXXXXXXX

Isis was correct - a small opening was in the rock wall right at the cave shelf. It was too big for any normal-sized human to get through, but easy enough for Shadow and Rouge to crawl through. Isis transformed into her panther form and followed, squeezing herself right after the other two.

The tunnel went a long way through the cliff, going down and twisting and turning constantly. The tunnel also narrowed considerably the further they got through, and at the end it was so narrow Shadow and Rouge had to each take a black paw and pull Isis out.

"Looks like you need to lose some weight," Shadow said, teasing Isis as she lay sprawled on the rocky floor.

Isis stuck out her tongue at the hedgehog before getting up, shaking like a wet dog and then trotting after Rouge. The three quietly made through the rest of the cave. With Rouge being a bat, she was adapted to darkness and able to detect objects just fine. Shadow had been designed to see well in the dark and had no trouble keeping up. Isis also had built-in night vision - although her eyes glowed a dull purple, it simply wasn't bright enough to be noticeable.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Rouge held up her hand for the other two to stop. "I hear voices," Rouge whispered, "I'm going to check it out. Alright?"

Shadow nodded while Isis let out a chuff. The bat disappeared around a bend in the cave, and came back in only a few seconds, "You guys have _got_ to see this."

XXXXXXXXX

_Smack!_

"Ninety-seven."

_Smack!_

"Ninety-eight."

_Smack!_

"Ninety-nine."

_SMACK!_

"A hundred," Sonic gasped, finally allowing his body to relax again. Bob had led him to the living room, also done in horrendous wallpaper - light green with darker green flowers (although the flowers were so poorly done, they really could have been anything) - then stripped naked, sat down on the sofa and make Sonic crawl onto his lap. Sonic then laid face-down on the human's bare legs and counted out the hard slaps on his backside. This wasn't the first time Sonic had even been spanked - there had been a few incidents in his childhood, some with fans and a couple with mind-controlled Wario. Certainly the only time he had ever liked it was when his lover gave him a small smack, but that was out of love and nothing else. This was, well…just plain creepy.

"Your ass is getting a little red," Bob said, patting the hedgehog's backside, "But I don't think you're done yet."

"Yeah, well if you wanna continue paddling me you'll have to pay up," Sonic said, twisting around.

"Ten bucks a spank? Are you serious?"

"Hey, it's Sonic the Hedgehog you're spanking, not some random prostitute."

"You want my help getting cash or not?" Bob said, smiling at Sonic.

"_That jerk is going to try and play the 'I won't help unless you give me what I want' card…"_ Sonic growled, "What do you suggest for a price, then?"

"A dollar each."

"No way! You're not gonna smack me a thousand times!"

"What do you suggest then?"

"Five bucks each, if that makes it better."

"Hmm…" Bob looked down at Sonic's rear end, only having a slight red tinge to it. It could take a long while before he could make it bright red…"Tell you what, Sonic - I'll give you a thousand more, and I get to spank you until your ass changes from blue to red. What do you say?"

Sonic frowned. He couldn't really tell how red he was at this point - so either he'd be getting extra or ripped off. Still, a thousand was fine considering all he had to do was bear the pain, minor compared to other things he had gone through.

"Alright," Sonic said, holding out his hand. Bob reached for his wallet sitting beside him on the couch, counted out twenty fifty dollar bills and handed them over. Sonic tucked the money into his glove before settling down on Bob's legs again, "Go ahead."

"Start counting where we left off," Bob chuckled while raising his hand.

_Smack!_

"One-hundred one…"

_Smack!_

"One-hundred two…"

XXXXXXXXX

"What is that? Some sort of cannon?" Shadow whispered. The three were tucked into a small crack in the cave wall just outside of the open doorway, allowing for them to observe the area without being spotted.

The cliff had been completely dug out; with the path the three had traversed leading to one grand circular hall, at least 100 feet in diameter. Sitting in the middle of the place was a giant metal tower. At the top was a hint of something glowing, and at the bottom, some control panels - but as for what the heck it was, none of them had a clue.

Metal walkways circled the huge room, on four levels. Below the three were one walkway and the ground floor - above, two more metal walkways. Every so often a strange creature walked by, ranging from the freaks in the jewelry store to creatures that seemed ghost-like to just plain mindfucks. But for the most part, the place was empty.

"It's night now. Mephiles must be sleeping and sent his minions away so he wouldn't have to monitor them. We've come at a good time," Rouge whispered.

"Alright, we'll split the place up. Rouge, take the top two floors. I'll take the bottom two. Isis can take this one - looks like this floor has the most hallways. Sounds good?" Shadow looked at the two girls, who both nodded, "Let's go."

"One minute, Shadow. You and I can communicate with these," Rouge said, tapping her wrist. The watches she and Shadow both wore had a built-in communicator that would allow instant contact with each other, but Isis didn't have one, "What about Isis?"

"_No worries."_ Both Shadow and Rouge seemed startled to hear Isis' voice, and the panther laughed, _"I'm in your head. I can speak telepathically. Shall I check in with both of you every twenty minutes or so?"_

"That's fine. Now let's hurry up and get going before something notices us."

Once the coast was clear, Rouge flew up to the floor above, while Shadow carefully jumped his way to the ground. Isis looked back and forth, and then carefully disappeared into the next hallway.

X

Isis groaned inwardly as she recognized the hallway - at least, the design of it from before, when she had seen Mephiles' base for the first time. It seemed that the whole base was designed like this, which would make it difficult for her to find her way back.

"_At least in panther form I can follow my scent,"_ Isis said, carefully scanning the walls and space ahead of her to make sure she wouldn't run into something or set off an alarm, _"And I suppose Shadow's so fast he won't have a problem finding his way out. I just hope these hallways aren't too confusing for Rouge…oh, I'm sure she'll be fine."_

It wasn't long before Isis came upon a familiar set of tall doors. _"Oh, joy. Am I just destined to be a bookworm?"_

X

Shadow kept to the wall as he made his way to the ground floor. As messed up as these creatures were, they weren't especially bright. He easily made his way past three different monsters before getting to the base of the tall metal tower.

The first thing he noticed was the seven holes around the machine, obviously meant for the Chaos Emeralds - luckily or unluckily, Shadow wasn't quite sure which; no Emeralds were in the holes. The base of the tower was only about ten feet in a diameter, quite a contrast to its great height about ten times that. The only other interesting thing about the tower was a door in it, with a keypad next to it. Shadow dared himself and pressed a few buttons, but nothing happened. Either the thing wasn't working yet or it wasn't on.

There was only one hallway on this floor, and Shadow could already see to the end of it. With no monsters in sight Shadow got to the end of the hallway and slid open the metal door. The room was only occupied by a large machine, a long metal table and shelves crammed with pots and boxes of random materials. Compared to the rest of the base so far, it was quite messy, with papers, scrap metal and all kinds of junk coating the floor.

Trying his hardest to not disturb anything, Shadow made his way to the strange machine. The cylinder-shaped metal machine had a door with a small window and was covered with keypads and levers. The larger metal cylinder was connected to a smaller one a few feet away with a long plastic tube. The machine kind of resembled a teapot, for two huge, clear plastic curly tubes, one at the top and one at the left side looked like handles, while the longer plastic tube looked like the spout. Steam was also escaping from near the top, although the smell was obviously chemicals and not tea leaves. Teapot or not, someone had put a lot of effort into this machine. This thing seemed to be working, for a giant light in neon orange was on, and it read, 'In Progress'.

"What's in progress?" Shadow mumbled to himself. He stood on the tips of his toes to try and peer into the cylinder, but all he could see was a thick white cloud of steam.

Deciding not to break the thing open lest he let loose some monster, Shadow went to look at the shelves. Most of the containers weren't open, but Shadow easily recognized them as different chemicals, like silver nitrate and aluminum oxide, and of course sulfuric acid. The only ones that had been opened, however, were only labeled as 'white' 'black' 'orange' and so forth.

"Hmm…" Shadow grabbed a small scoop that had been set on top of one of the containers and dipped it into the one marked 'red'. He came up with a tablespoon of red powder.

"_What is this stuff?"_ Shadow looked at the powder, and then it came to him.

X

When he had been little and aboard the ARK, the day he learned to walk was also a day that Gerald and Maria had continued to tease him about years later. Of course, at the time he had been so young he couldn't talk or stand up yet, so really it was nothing to be embarrassed about; but even here all alone, a small blush formed on Shadow's cheeks.

A couple of other scientists were working with Professor Gerald to study Maria's condition that day, who patiently waited as was in her nature (unlike Shadow, who barely tolerated anyone poking things into him except for Professor Gerald, and even then he was no saint). With no one to baby-sit the little Ultimate Life Form he had been placed in a small cage until the tests were finished. According to Maria, Shadow had howled and cried until finally Gerald said to let Shadow loose in the lab, as nothing was in his reach and he was too young to do any harm.

Shadow could crawl by this point and happy to be free had set about exploring the lab. No one was quite sure what had exactly happened, but it seemed as though Shadow wanted something on a small metal bookcase with only two shelves. But even though the first shelf was only two feet off of the floor, at his current crawling height and without the ability to stand Shadow couldn't reach it.

Much to the baby Ultimate Life Form's dismay, even if he sat up he couldn't get the object of his desire. It was assumed that the little hedgehog then seemed to have realized that if you were on two legs, you could get things from higher places. Having figured this out, Shadow struggled to pull himself to his little feet. Time and time again Shadow tried to stand up, as he couldn't seem to figure out how to make himself balance. Surprisingly enough, nobody had seemed to notice that Shadow was trying to stand and walk - every time they looked at him he was sitting or lying down, probably from his failed attempts.

Still unwilling to give up, Shadow probably noticed at a pile of books a few feet away from the shelf. The pile would have provided something for Shadow to hold on to and pull himself to his feet. Having finally managed to do that, the young hedgehog could slowly take his first few steps and make his way to the shelf. The only things on it were small metal containers - perhaps it was the shine or the splashes of bright colors on the containers that had initially attracted Shadow. Regardless, Shadow had managed to make it while walking; he reached for whatever object he wanted…

…and pulled the lightweight aluminum shelf over, sending it toppling to the ground with a tremendous crash. Now he got everyone's attention, as a wave of different colored powders were sent into the air in puffs of chemicals. In the middle of the mess sat Shadow, covered from head to toe in the strange powders. He looked at himself, now a mixture of greens and grays and purples, and then up at Gerald with bright red eyes and an expression that read, 'What happened?'

Apparently everyone had a good laugh at seeing the young Ultimate Life Form in such a state and completely confused, before Gerald Robotnik picked up the young hedgehog and said, "Ah Shadow, you little rascal. I guess we won't be painting anything anytime soon. Looks like all of our powder coatings are mixed into one huge mess."

"What are you going to do with him?" another scientist asked.

"Give him a bath and put him to bed. I think he's had enough adventures for today. Although I'm surprised he was able to bring that shelf down - he wouldn't have been able to reach it unless…" Gerald paused for a moment and then smiled at Shadow, "He learned how to _stand_!"

"Already? He's not that old…" a different scientist said, looking at the multi-colored Shadow.

"He's developing quite nicely, although perhaps I should have focused a bit more on making his cerebral cortex develop a little faster. Maybe then you would have judged your environment a bit better and realized that putting all of your weight on the edge of a shelf isn't a good idea, hmm, Shadow?" Shadow simply giggled in response.

"Well, it's bath time for the baby. I'll clean up his mess when I get back. You're growing up so fast, aren't you, my little Ultimate Life Form?" Maria giggled at her grandfather talking baby talk to Shadow and then tickling the little hedgehog's tummy.

The rest of the day wasn't as 'adventurous', although apparently Shadow had found the multi-colored bathwater very amusing and continually splashed, trying to grab the colors. As well, after Gerald had placed Shadow in his crib he now attempted to get out. He had managed to nearly pull himself over the top bar before Maria had stopped him, picked him up and then cuddled him to sleep.

"It's a good thing I did get a crib for the little guy," Gerald had said when Maria told the scientist of Shadow's escape attempt, "A cage would have made him cry, and in a regular bed he would have gotten out no problem. I'll have to put up a little barrier to prevent him from getting out. Now that Shadow's learned to stand, more things are in his reach. He'll be a handful to watch now."

X

It was a cute little story, but of course Shadow was young so he couldn't remember a thing. Well, he sort of remembered the colored water and bubbles, but that was it.

"_Wait, why am I thinking about me getting bathed as a child when I'm in the middle of a madman's base and just discovered something? Focus, Shadow!"_

All of the stuff in the color-labeled containers and the red powder in the scoop was powder coating - a kind of paint used on metals. Now, it wouldn't have been a real discovery - after all, Eggman often painted his robots, so it was possible Mephiles was going to do the same - if it wasn't for a few things. First off, there was pink powder coating. And pink really wasn't all that threatening.

Secondly, the colors were very specific hues. The blue powder was exactly the color of Sonic's fur, while the yellow was the perfect shade to match Tails' coat.

"Something's not right here…" Shadow muttered to himself, "Why would the colors be so precise?" Shadow then turned around to look at the teapot machine, a flash of inspiration hitting him, "Unless…"

X

Rouge carefully navigated her way through the hallways of the top floor, each looking the same as the last. A number of strange creatures were walking through the halls, but not a single one thought to look up.

Most of these rooms had nothing interesting in them, but eventually Rouge came to one small room, no bigger than twelve feet across, and the walls completely covered with bookshelves. In the center was a light-colored wooden desk with the top slanted downward, and a little piece of wood at the bottom to prevent pencils and papers from sliding off. A thick green book with a metal coiled spine sat on the desk, with a pen tucked into the coil. A plush green chair sat in front of the desk, at a 45 degree angle. The floor also had numerous piles and boxes of both artwork and writing, although whether or not Mephiles had done them himself Rouge did not know.

Quietly Rouge stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. She made her way to the desk and opened the book to a random page. Immediately what she saw made her feel sick.

Tucked into the two lined pages was an extremely graphic drawing of Mephiles raping Silver.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic was on his knees in front of Bob, sucking away at Bob's covered erection. Bob had one hand in Sonic's head quills, pulling the blue hedgehog forward. Sonic complied and took more of the organ into his mouth, his sore backside still red after the hard spanking.

Bob had almost finished when a woman in about her mid-thirties walked into the room. Sonic and Bob turned to look at her, although Sonic didn't stop sucking. She was fairly pretty, with curly brown hair and a short red dress. However, her brown eyes held the same predatory look that Bob's had when he looked at Sonic.

"He really is sucking cock, isn't he?" She asked, smiling, seemingly unconcerned about who Sonic was sucking off.

"Sure is," Bob grunted and tapped Sonic's ear, "This is Riley, Sonic. She's paid to fuck you tonight."

"And I'm looking forward to it," Riley said, looking Sonic up and down, "He looks pretty talented with his tongue. I can't wait for oral from him."

Sonic pulled away for a moment to say to Riley, "Look, I'm not going to perform oral on you unless there's something in between your privates and my mouth. I'll be wearing a condom when we have sex, but that won't help if I do oral."

Riley looked at Bob, who sighed and said, "The little whore won't do a damn thing without protection and lubrication. And considering how much he costs, that's quite a price to pay."

"For simply wishing to _protect_ myself? Are you serious?" Sonic once again pulled away from Bob, "I don't want to risk the chance of getting some disease, alright? There's nothing wrong with that!"

Bob shrugged, "It feels better without a condom."

"For crying out loud, you can barely feel the damn things! Have unprotected sex with your lover, I don't care - but with me, it's barriers or not at all."

Riley sighed, "Well, I have always dreamed of doing this…so I'll place something overtop so you don't have to touch my skin. Alright?"

"Yeah," Sonic replied just before Bob pushed his erection back into the hedgehog's mouth.

"I'll be in the bedroom whenever you two are done," Riley said, winking and walking off down the hallway.

"_Chaos, these people are crazy. If I were to walk in on one of my friends getting oral from a human, I would at least be concerned!" _

XXXXXXXXX

Once again in the library, Isis began her search of the room, still in panther form. It didn't take long to find what she was looking for - the black book with the silver corners. Another entry had been added, but all it said was that Plan Two was going along as, well, planned and that Eggman might take Mephiles up on his offer.

"_However,"_ Mephiles had written, _"Eggman seems very suspicious about what I want with Sonic. I'm not surprised, considering it's very odd to have someone spontaneously come up to you and offer to take your worst enemy away for good. Eggman said he'd have to think about it for a few days. I hope he makes up his mind soon…just the thought of that blue hedgehog squirming underneath me makes me all excited…"_

"_Too much info there, buddy!"_ Isis thought, and placed the book back. The psychic continued her search of the library. This time she was able to make a more thorough search and ended up in a corner of the room. A giant table was there, covered with all sorts of blueprints. _"Hey, these kinda look like that tower…but I can't understand all of these words. Oh, I wish Sun was here…I don't think I could take any of these without Mephiles noticing. These don't look complete yet either - although I can tell the tower's designed to do multiple things. For now, that's all I have to take away from this."_

Isis padded around the room, still in her panther form. There had to be something here to help her figure out what Mephiles was up to…

The psychic's gaze landed on a small, indigo colored book. Could that hold the secrets she was looking for?

X

After the initial shock was over, Rouge studied the picture a bit more carefully. The background was nearly all black, with slight hints of columns and vines beyond the main scene. Right in the foreground were Mephiles and Silver, lying on what looked like a dark blue Roman couch. Silver was on the left, with all of his regular clothing on. Both of his hands were chained to the wall behind the lounge. The small of his back was right where the armrest began to curve into the actual seat, with his lower half in the direct center of the picture. Silver's legs were apart and his entrance clearly shown being penetrated by the other hedgehog. Silver's expression wasn't one of great pain or confusion - Silver simply looked defeated. His chin looked like it was wobbling and a few tears were coming out of his sad golden eyes, but other than that his face seemed stony.

Mephiles, on the other hand, practically reeked of evil. His face was shrouded in darkness and his sharp teeth seemed to glow through the shadows. Mephiles also was completely clothed, although his privates were visible. His hands were digging into Silver's hips, like they were holding the psychic hedgehog in place. The whole scene looked so lifelike Rouge had to close her eyes for a second to stay calm; to remind herself it was just a picture…

But there were more of them - hundreds, possibly thousands of these drawings. Rouge focused her attention on them first, the bright and dark pictures catching her eye easily. They weren't just of Silver either. Sonic, of course, showed up often, but Shadow, Knuckles and even herself did as well. Not all of them were rape pictures, but in each one if you weren't Mephiles, you were in great pain.

Only two of the ones of Shadow she had found were of him being raped - both oral for some reason as well. The rest were all of Shadow being beaten and tortured, limbs being amputated and his back whipped to shreds. She and Knuckles had most of the same stuff as Shadow, with a few sexual pictures as well. Blaze had a few rape and torture pictures, but most of the others made her look like a prostitute more than anything else. Amy seemed to be shown most often as some sort of domestic slave, but that didn't let her escape from some of the more graphic ideas. Tails seemed to escape the drawings in most ways, although he was also a slave in some pictures. And there were thousands more containing other anthromorphs, humans and other races she didn't recognize all going through the same thing.

The whole thing was so overwhelming Rouge sat down in the chair, holding a picture of Sonic, Silver and Shadow all chained at the neck and looking down in sadness. 'My Little Sex Slaves' the picture was titled.

Words could not even describe the sadistic power in this room. "This is wrong…so wrong…" Rouge whispered, closing her eyes. The only thing that made her feel better was the fact that these were not photos. The pictures were drawn incredibly well, but they were just that - drawings. None of these had truly occurred.

"But just to think that Mephiles…is so interested in this…makes me feel sick." Rouge had just placed the picture she was holding back on the pile next to the desk where she had found it, when something caught her eye. A drawing was tucked in underneath the green book. This seemed to be Mephiles' latest creation, and not quite complete, as the border had not been filled in yet. Rouge carefully extracted the drawing to examine it.

Even after looking at so many drawings, each one more sadistic than the last, this picture was the one that chilled Rouge to her very core. The setting seemed to be a darkened bedroom, with Mephiles standing in a doorway in the background, head thrown back in laughter. Moonlight streamed through the window onto the ground, lighting up two figures on the bed, both completely naked. The bed was set up so the headboard would have been closest to the viewer, although only a little bit was shown in the picture. It was also set at an angle to give the clearest view of the two occupants on the bed - the part that scared Rouge the most and she didn't scare easy. Knuckles was being held down on the bed, wrists trapped by smaller hands. His hands, ungloved, were being pushed against the headboard. The echidna looked frightened, his eyes practically pleading with the person on top of him to stop the unwanted attention. His mouth was gagged with a white cloth to silent his cries that would have come from the fact that his legs that had been forced apart by his rapist. But the thing was…Knuckles' rapist wasn't a man.

It was Rouge. Her bare chest rose above Knuckles' heaving one, her breasts shining in the moonlight. Two fangs slightly poked out from underneath her blood-red lips, and her tongue was licking the lower lip in anticipation of gaining her prize. She was sitting on top of Knuckles, having lowered herself onto his unwilling erection, pushing his legs farther apart with her own. Her eyes seemed glazed over and predatory, completely ignoring the echidna's fear. The muscles under both of their skins were incredibly detailed - you could see every curve of both fighters' bodies. The dark green bedding bunched around Knuckles' waist, the tree outside of the window with an owl on a branch, the television set in the background with a small penguin figurine sitting on top - no detail was spared. Out of all the drawings this one seemed just so realistic Rouge almost expected to feel the cotton, hear the thumps and moans of the sex, sense Knuckles' fear…

"_I'm thinking way too much about this,"_ Rouge thought, shaking her head back and forth. She placed the picture back where she had found it and thought, _"Some of these are signed…Mephiles did have his own signature on his messages to Eggman. If I can just get a few of these pictures and show him, I'm sure he would change his mind. I would change my mind - anyone with any shred of a heart would turn against Mephiles!"_

Rouge set herself up to the task of finding the best pictures she could, although she couldn't help but think of the one under the book. Something seemed different about it compared to the others…what, though, Rouge couldn't quite put her finger on.

XXXXXXXXX

Having finally finished with Bob, the CEO gave Sonic an extra smack on the ass and turned towards the television.

"Go to the bedroom and do whatever Riley wants. She's got the cash. She'll pay."

Sonic nodded, trying to calm his pounding heart and think arousing thoughts of his lover instead. It was easier to do when he was alone, but once inside the bedroom any arousal vanished from Sonic's mind.

Riley was naked, her legs spread apart and awaiting attention from the blue hero. She patted the space beside her and after shutting the door Sonic sat down. "Now Sonic," Riley whispered, rubbing a hand through his quills, "You'll be a good boy and do as I tell you, right?"

"Yes…if you have the money."

"The deal was five thousand for oral, fingering and the hump, right?"

"Six, actually…"

"Oh, I'm only gonna finger you a little. That's fair, right?"

Sonic sighed, already feeling tired, "Alright, but if you do a lot you're paying."

"Fine!" Riley gestured to her open legs, "Get down there. I want to see what you can do."

X

"_My turn now, Amy," Sonic whispered, ducking between her legs. Sonic started with a few slow licks on the outside before moving inwards._

"_Sonic! Right there, please…" Amy arched her back with pleasure "Oh, that…yes! Faster Sonic!"_

_Sonic grinned and obeyed, holding down Amy's hips so he could control his licks better. Amy didn't mind that Sonic was still too nervous to push his tongue in deep, because he was doing the best he could. Amy rubbed Sonic's back, expertly avoiding the quills and nuzzling the top of Sonic's head. "Are you enjoying this?" Sonic asked after a few minutes, looking up._

_Amy smiled, sat up and kissed Sonic's forehead, "The best part is that it's you."_

X

A condom had been cut and opened up so it was like a square. This had been placed over Riley's privates, preventing any real skin-to-skin contact from occurring. Sonic licked and nuzzled at different points, but he failed to get a lot of arousal from Riley.

"You have to go deeper with me, Sonic," Riley said, panting slightly, "Real deep with your tongue. I don't care what you think - you have to, or no money."

X

_Sonic had tried to go deeper when Amy asked, but he just couldn't do it. He became scared and started shaking, prompting Amy to make him stop. Sonic moved up and snuggled in next to his lover, while she kissed him and rubbed his groin._

"_Don't worry about it, Sonic," Amy whispered softly, rubbing the top of Sonic's head, "You just go as far as you feel comfortable with. I can't enjoy it if you're not enjoying it. Every time we can go farther until you're ok." _

"_Thanks for being so understanding, Amy…" Sonic whispered back, planting a soft kiss on Amy's lips, "And not calling me a wimp or anything."_

_Amy let out a soft laugh, "Wimps are people who cry for hours over a stubbed toe or freak out about a small scratch on their phone. You aren't a wimp if you're nervous about sex, regardless of gender. We'll just take our time, and everything will be alright."_

X

Sonic obeyed the command, feeling more scared with every bit he pushed in. He had never gone this far before in oral - sucking on a man's erection was one thing, for he could see everything, and excluding that one time with mind-controlled Wario in which he had performed oral sex on Wario's ass, he had only done a few licks around the surface. This was new, and frightening. Riley didn't seem to care, but just kept snapping at Sonic to hurry up and get in there.

Finally, with his tongue nearly all the way in, Riley let out a groan, "Oh yes…right there, Sonic! Like that…yeah!" Now at the correct depth, Sonic twisted his tongue around inside, grateful for the latex wall separating the two. He lapped at anything he could find, trying to find a pleasure spot for Riley. At one point he managed to get a loud moan from her, and then Sonic began focusing solely on that spot.

"Oh gods, yes, yes! Sonic, you're just amazing…more, more!" Riley pushed Sonic's head down, the built-up pleasure in her body tightening her muscles around Sonic's tongue.

Sonic just thought of the dreams he had had before he had decided who his lover was. He had them of both Amy and Shadow, and while he had reenacted the ones of Shadow with Bob, he reenacted the ones of Amy with Riley. It made things a lot easier if he pretended that he was pleasuring someone he loved instead of some freak.

The blue hedgehog continued to wiggle his tongue around inside, starting to become a little more relaxed. As long as he pretended it was Amy, he could do this. He had to do this.

X

_After Amy reached her climax, Sonic lapped up the remains before kissing up her stomach and sucking on her neck._

"_Oh Sonic…that was amazing…" Amy panted, just as Sonic moved up and began to kiss her. The blue hedgehog let the pink one push her tongue into his mouth, and for a minute they softly kissed one another, savoring the other's taste._

_When they broke apart for air, Amy let her hand rub down Sonic's side and onto his rear, "Do you feel like taking tonight one step further?"_

"_I'm very relaxed now," Sonic purred, kissing Amy's neck once again, "Let's give it a try, shall we?"_

"_I am on birth control, but we can still use a condom if you'd like."_

_Sonic thought for a moment, gazing past Amy at the starry night outside. "I think I'd like to try going without," Sonic decided, looking down at his pink lover, "But still, I really appreciate the offer - knowing that you'd be willing to go with one for me just seems right…"_

_Amy wrapped her arms around Sonic's neck, pulling her blue lover into a deep kiss, "I'm glad you're willing to wear one too. Lovers should be like that. But if you want to go without, I'm fine with that too."_

_The pink hedgehog began to rub Sonic between his legs again, and the blue one couldn't help but let out a moan. "We'll begin whenever you're ready, Sonic," Amy whispered as she pulled Sonic in for another kiss._

X

After finishing Riley, Sonic sat up and licked his lips. Not because of any taste, because thankfully he couldn't taste a thing, but because his lips were dry from lapping away for so long.

"Ooooooh…you're very good, Sonic," Riley said, petting Sonic's cheek, "Now, why don't you come a little closer?"

"Umm…ok…" Sonic crawled on top of Riley, sitting just above her hips, "What do you want me to do?"

Instead of responding, Riley pushed Sonic's head down towards her breasts and held him there. Sonic waited for a moment, but Riley didn't give any further instructions. The blue hedgehog gave a small lick on one nipple, which sparked a giggle from Riley, "Atta boy, Sonic. I knew you'd figure it out."

"_Oh,"_ Sonic thought, this time taking the nipple in his mouth, lightly nibbling it. While Sonic teased Riley's right breast, her hands moved down his sides and grabbed Sonic's hips, forcing them up and his head to go down. Sonic's tail was poking nearly straight up, forcing him to place his feet on either side of Riley's hips to keep his balance. Sonic unwittingly let out a small squeak as he felt a finger prod his backside.

"Just relax and keep sucking, Sonic…" Riley whispered, stretching Sonic's rear end and slowly inserting a finger in his backside, "I'm just testing something out, is all."

"What are you testing?" Sonic asked; wincing as a second finger followed the first.

Riley stretched Sonic with the two fingers, rubbing his left butt cheek with the other hand. "None of your concern," Riley replied, attempting to push a third finger in, "Not unless this works, anyway."

X

_Because of past experiences, it often took some time for Sonic to become fully aroused. After applying a coat of lubrication on her pointer finger, Amy carefully inserted the finger into Sonic's backside._

_Sonic's eyes opened wide, but he did not become frightened because he knew that this was different than before. The blue hedgehog moved down to Amy's chest to tease it while she searched his rear for his pleasure spot._

_It didn't take long to find the gland. Sonic let out a soft moan as soon as Amy's finger brushed it, and his moans got louder as she softly stroked his prostate._

"_Amy…" Sonic panted, becoming more aroused with every passing second, "Don't stop…oh!" Sonic arched his back, wanting the finger deeper in, "More Amy, more!"_

X

Riley's fingers had found Sonic's prostate, but Sonic didn't have the same reaction as when his lover fingered him. True, the same bolts of pleasure shot through Sonic's veins, but by now the blue hedgehog knew that it was his body's natural reaction to being touched there, and not of his own accord. Besides, Riley's fingers were quite rough from the beginning, while his lover took it slow to give his body time to adjust. With Sonic's past sexual history, he really needed that extra time to feel safe.

Despite the rough touching, Sonic's body reacted to the pleasure, and Sonic couldn't help but blush as his hardening organ began coming out of his pouch.

"Ah, there it is…" Riley continued to finger Sonic while her left hand began to inspect Sonic's growing erection, "You look like a good six inches or more, Sonic. That's pretty big for someone of your size…"

"Yeah…great…" Sonic bit his lip, a little nervous about being on top this time, "So…you have a condom?"

Riley rolled her eyes, but reached over, picked up a small package and slapped it into Sonic's palm, "If you must, then put it on." Sonic's shaking fingers somehow managed to rip open the foil. He carefully rolled the condom over his erection and nodded at Riley, showing he was ready. "Rub yourself," was all Riley said, removing her fingers and then leaning back against the pillows.

Sonic began rubbing his hand up and down his length; shame forcing his cheeks to go red and his eyes start to tear up. Even before he had been raped, Sonic had rarely pleasured himself in a sexual way, preferring the pleasure of high speeds to sitting in his room and touching his privates. After the whole incident at the Smashers' Base, doing so had simply made him feel wrong, as if he was doing something foul and dirty. Time and time again he had been told that there was absolutely nothing wrong with exploring your own body, but he just couldn't do it. He could pleasure someone else and they could pleasure him, but there was simply no way he could do it himself now.

His lover didn't know at the beginning how wrong Sonic felt pleasuring himself, so when they asked him to rub himself, as he was doing now, Sonic managed to do it about seven times before bursting into tears. After his lover calmed him down, Sonic explained about how he felt about touching himself, and the other hedgehog then apologized and promised never to ask again. Dr. Nam tried to assure Sonic that in time he wouldn't feel bad and could try touching himself again, but Sonic wasn't quite sure.

In any case, enough time certainly had not passed to make Sonic feel comfortable yet. The blue hedgehog squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself not to cry as he rubbed himself. _"Pretend it's Shadow,"_ Sonic thought, _"Or Amy. Just don't think about it being you!"_

X

_With Sonic fully pleasured and Amy waiting, the blue hedgehog carefully lowered himself inside his lover. Sonic paused once he was fully inside, allowing both hedgehogs to adjust, before slowly rocking his hips back and forth._

"_Faster Sonic!" Amy cried, and the blue hedgehog happily complied. He sped up his thrusts, Amy gripping his shoulders and thrusting her hips up in time with Sonic._

"_You feel so good, Amy…" Sonic panted, love and lust shining in his eyes, "You're very tight…" _

_Amy pulled Sonic into a deep kiss while wrapping one of her legs around Sonic's waist, "You're my first and only, Sonic. Every part of me is for you."_

_Sonic lowered his lips to Amy's chest, sparking a number of moans from the pink hedgehog. He looked up and smiled, "You may not have been my first, Amy, but from now on I promise you'll be my only." _

X

"Very nice, Sonic," Riley said after a few minutes, completely ignoring the fact that Sonic wasn't comfortable in the slightest with touching himself, "Shall we get started?"

"Whatever you wish," Sonic said, shrugging. Riley motioned to her lower regions and Sonic complied, inserting himself into the female human. He started pushing in and out, slowly to start, like his lover let him, but Riley wouldn't have any of that.

"Speed up, will you? Perhaps you're used to younger women who like that, but I like it rough. Come on now!" Riley slapped Sonic's cheek, startling Sonic and stopping his motions.

"Get a move on!" Riley hit Sonic again, and this time Sonic began thrusting as fast he could, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible.

Riley didn't give any more commands to Sonic, only letting out moans and groans of pleasure. Sonic simply focused on his thrusting, outside seeming uncaring but inside shaking like a butterfly in a tornado. Starting sex quickly was nerve-wracking for him, but if he didn't comply, he wouldn't get any money. And without the cash, the possibility of never being able to start slow again was the least of his worries.

X

_Both pink and blue hedgehogs were basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking, both naked and cuddling in the soft bed together._

"_I really enjoyed that, Sonic," Amy said softly, nuzzling into Sonic's neck._

"_Me too," Sonic replied, stroking his lover's side, "But it's late…I suppose we should stop for the night."_

"_You're right," Amy agreed, pulling the covers up over their bodies and snuggling closer, "I love you, Sonic."_

"_And I love you too, Amy. Goodnight."_

X

Riley's moans got louder and louder, but Sonic was already going as fast as his scared body would allow. Riley didn't seem to care, reaching her climax and clawing Sonic's shoulders in the process. Sonic hoped that the marks wouldn't show well, otherwise his money-making secret would be out.

"Ah, Sonic…for only being seventeen, you're certainly great in bed." Riley's head was back, and she was panting heavily. Sonic was feeling awkward being inside of her, still hard, and attempted to pull out. Riley placed her hands on Sonic's hips, holding the hedgehog down.

"One humping is equal to one orgasm. I gave that to you. We're finished," Sonic said, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. Riley sighed and let Sonic pull out, staring in shock at his still hard organ, although it was already going soft. "You could have _still_ kept going? That's impressive! You've got a lot of stamina!"

"Thanks…" Sonic mumbled, pulling the condom off. He held out his hand, and Riley grabbed her wallet to count out the money. Sonic's organ went soft and slipped back inside his pouch by the time the last twenty was deposited into his hand.

Riley wrapped her arms around Sonic's waist and pulled the hedgehog close, planting a kiss on his cheek, "That was fun, Sonic. I really enjoyed that."

"Sure thing," Sonic replied, pushing her away and getting out of the bed. He left the room, ignoring Riley's pleas for another round, and went back to the living room. Bob was watching pornography on the big-screen TV, pleasuring himself at the same time.

"Will you have another date for me tomorrow?" Sonic asked, trying his best to ignore what Bob was doing.

The male human nodded, "Come see me at three. You're sending quite a buzz in our little community. And no worries - we won't tell a soul outside of it. We don't want to share!"

"Of course. Well, see ya." With a good eight thousand tucked safely in his left glove, Sonic left for home.

Tears freely streamed down his cheeks as he ran; his lover's face appearing in his mind, telling Sonic that they loved him. Sonic wanted nothing more to crawl into bed with his hedgehog and make love, but after selling himself his lover obviously deserved something better. If he didn't finish getting the money soon, Sonic didn't think he'd ever be able to have sex with someone he truly cared about ever again.

_**Long chapter is loooooonnngggg. 37 pages on Word. I wanted to split it into two, but if I did that then there really wouldn't have been much plot in the first part. Besides, don't all love a good long update every so often? *coughs***_

_**Yes, that little-Shadow scene was random…to be honest the main reason why I added it was because I had a dream of Shadow covered in multiple colors. This seemed like a cute explanation as to why.**_

_**And don't you all love how I like mess with people's minds? Were those little italic parts all dreams…or was one a reality? Mwa ha ha ha ha! You won't find out today!**_


	11. Hidden

Rouge had found all the pictures she wanted, a total of five - yet only one was of Sonic being raped by Mephiles. The other four were of different races, but all were in extreme amounts of pain. Interestingly enough, when Rouge finally explored the shelves she had come across more pictures, but they had different people abusing others. The papers with writing were receipts for these different drawings.

Was Mephiles creating these things and then selling them to the abusers in the pictures for a profit? How was he creating such life-like images anyways? They looked too good to be simple drawings. And there were no signs of any art supplies in the room, excluding three ball-point pens which didn't really count.

Deciding it wasn't worth the trouble right now to find out how the things were made, Rouge tucked the five pictures under her arm and quietly left the room. She going to do a quick check of the top floor anyways, just in case there was something up there she needed to be aware of.

X

Shadow went back to the teapot machine, having to stand on his toes again to look inside. The fog was beginning to clear up, and revealed exactly what he expected - a hedgehog robot.

The steam must have kept the powder coating on the robot, and with the paint job the robot actually looked very realistic - the quills looked sharp and the fur looked ruffled and warm. The gloves looked like real cloth and the shoes seemed as though they could come off, like real shoes.

Of course, Shadow knew without a doubt that it was a robot - mainly because it was a robot of _him_ inside.

A small metal panel opened at the bottom of the machine, releasing a cloud of hot steam onto Shadow's toes. The black hedgehog hopped to the side to get out of the way, and once the steam was gone Shadow looked back into the machine. To his surprise, the robot of himself had vanished.

X

Isis crept closer to the indigo book, a blue ribbon marking a page. It was sitting on a chair in front of the fireplace. She had seen it before, but hadn't looked at it. But since it was separate from Mephiles' other books, it could have some important information she needed to know.

Still in panther form, Isis sniffed the book before carefully using one claw to get underneath the cover and open to the page with the ribbon. Just as she was about to open the book up, the library doors slammed open. Quickly Isis fled to behind one of the shelves, peering out to see who had entered.

X

There was only one room on the top floor, and Rouge easily guessed what it was. She cautiously opened the door, entering Mephiles' personal quarters.

Immediately the bat found herself in a huge room with a king-sized bed. The covers were messed up and the big-screen television was on, but muted. It seemed as though Mephiles had been watching the news to see what the world was planning on doing about him. Immediately Rouge removed one of her gloves and placed her hand on the bed. It was still warm, and with no one else in this area, that meant…

Rouge contacted Shadow immediately, and as soon as he answered she hissed, "Mephiles is walking around somewhere. Watch yourself."

At least Shadow was now on guard; but what about Isis?

X

Shadow pressed his head against the glass window after Rouge contacted him, saying that Mephiles was somewhere walking around now. He couldn't figure out how that robot left the machine. He was standing in front of the only part that looked like a door - so how did it get out?

The black hedgehog walked around the left side on the machine, and saw that the machine was actually attached to the wall of this room. So there could have easily been a door on the other side which the robot had gone through.

Question was, since this was the only visible room on this floor, how do you get to the other side?

And what was on the other side?

X

Isis cursed as she saw Mephiles enter. She crouched to the ground and began slowly backing away when she was stopped short by something. Isis looked up and mentally smacked herself for not being more careful. The blue ribbon of the indigo book had caught on the tip of her sharp claws, effectively attaching the two together. The book had been snagged on a corner of one of the shelves, preventing her from moving.

Because she couldn't take the risk of moving forward to free herself - the light from the fireplace would easily illuminate her - Isis slowly held the ribbon down with one paw and attempted to remove her claw from it. Mephiles was searching the area in front of the fireplace, muttering about something.

The ribbon was thin, and Isis couldn't risk leaving a tear in the silk strip of cloth. She slowly wriggled her way through the fibers, almost free, almost there -

All of a sudden, a loud crash came from a lower floor. The book suddenly lit up, letting out the noise of a police siren.

Isis' ears folded back in an attempt to block out the noise, any stealth she had at this point gone by now.

"You!" Isis looked up to see Mephiles glaring at her, "Give me back that book, Isis!"

"_Oh fuck."_

X

"_Bad news guys!"_ Rouge and Shadow stopped in their tracks when they heard Isis talk to them, _"Some alarm went off, and I've been spotted by Mephiles. Since I fucked up, I'll take care of him. You just work on getting out of here!"_

Rouge sighed to herself - Isis definitely needed an extra form of communication. The psychic had contacted Rouge every twenty minutes, just as she said she would, but Rouge came upon Mephiles' quarters two minutes after that, and with no way to warn Isis all she could do was hope for the best.

Which so far, besides the fact Mephiles hadn't captured, tortured and killed them all, wasn't the best.

"Shadow, ready to go?" Rouge said immediately as the hedgehog answered, "You got Isis' message?"

"Yes to both parts. I don't think there's much more I can do now. I do have about a hundred more questions though, and I didn't find anything to help with a bribe," Shadow replied.

"I've got it covered. Just get out of here!" Rouge exited the quarters and flew down to the cave, already heading for the exit.

X

Shadow sighed as he turned off the communicator. He had gone back up to check out the floor above, finding a staircase that had led back down to the ground floor. The only thing at the end was a huge metal door and Shadow could hear someone, or something moving around on the other side. When he placed a hand on the door an incredibly loud smash came from the other side and a buzzer went off. Shadow looked around, but no one came to check things out. Instead, he could hear a loud siren coming from two floors above.

Did he somehow set that off?

X

Isis slipped behind another bookshelf just as a fireball slammed into the wall behind her. The ribbon and book were troopers, staying on Isis' claw regardless of being dragged along the hallways and repeatedly stepped on by black paws.

"_Get off, get off!" _Isis snarled, shaking her paw around. The ribbon gave way a little, but still stayed fastened on.

"Give that to me!" Mephiles snapped, sending a wave of psychic energy at the black panther.

Isis had the wind knocked out of her for a second, but quickly regained her senses and moved on. _"He really wants this book…I wonder what's inside?"_

This running around wasn't going all that well, and if Isis didn't distract Mephiles for long enough he might go after Shadow and Rouge - if he knew they were here. _"Guess I'll have to fight him,"_ Isis sighed, whirling around and charging up an energy ball.

Her powers changed a little in panther form, considering she no longer had hands to concentrate with. When Mephiles came around the corner after her, the black and purple energy ball in her mouth was charged up. She shot it at Mephiles, and kept firing more as he made his ways towards her. "Give me that book!" each word dripped with venom from Mephiles' mouth, his eyes flashing with anger and turning a dark red, "Hand it over and I'll make your death quick and painless!"

Isis bared her teeth at Mephiles, showing him that she wasn't going to go down so easily. A blue phantom sword with a seven-foot blade was summoned from the air, and Mephiles pointed the tip of the blade at the psychic. "The anger that surrounds both of us makes good weapons, doesn't it?" Mephiles growled, swinging the blade down. Isis jumped out of the way at the last second, sending another energy ball at Mephiles. He chopped it in half with the sword.

Mephiles kept swinging at Isis, his skill with the phantom sword surprising Isis a little. The blade easily cut through the thick wooden shelves, sending heavy books tumbling onto the two fighters. Both simply put up shields to protect themselves and kept moving. Isis eventually backed up into the open area where the chair, side table and fireplace were. This was good - in human form she was excellent at fighting in any scenario, but as a panther she wasn't built for close-quarters combat. Open areas like this, even if only twenty feet in diameter, suited her perfectly.

With the next swing, instead of dodging Isis slashed down with her right paw, the one free from any extra weight caused by books, surrounding the limb in psychic energy to protect herself from the sharp edges of the sword. The blade was parried to the ground, and Isis leaped at Mephiles, heading for his throat.

For the brief instant Mephiles was surprised Isis got in close, but he was able to hold her back at the last second, deadly canines inches from his throat. "Nice try, Isis," Mephiles snarled, throwing her to the side, "But I'm a lot better than _that_."

The two lunged at each other again, Isis always surrounding her tail or paw with psychic energy to deflect the sword and then lunging in for an attack. It took a few tries, but finally Isis got in and slashed down Mephiles' chest - and her paw was sent skimming across a rainbow-colored surface, invisible to her before.

"_He has permanent shields up. Bullshit,"_ Isis thought, jumping back. She'd either have to do enough damage to destroy them first, or perform a specific attack designed to take out shields - neither would be that easy. At least now she could tell the others about this, which meant less surprises in the future.

The psychic slowly circled Mephiles, growling and dragging the stupid book behind her. The two simply stared at one another, waiting for the other to make a move. Isis wasn't attacking due to Mephiles' shields and how it would be difficult for her to take them out on her own; Mephiles was waiting because he wasn't completely sure of what abilities Isis had and would rather be ready to counter or dodge instead.

After circling Mephiles three times and getting nowhere, Isis decided to try and spite Mephiles into attacking her. She stopped and bared her teeth again, growling to show her anger. The psychic made a show of pulling the book closer to her and placing a paw on top, staring Mephiles down with narrow eyes.

Mephiles chuckled, swinging the blade lazily back and forth in front of him, "That book is useless to you unless you know the password. It will appear completely blank unless you say some special words. Don't bother looking around here - I have never written it down, nor ever plan on doing so."

So, Isis could take the book just to spite Mephiles - after all, he seemed almost desperate to get it back - but if she did, that could really piss him off and make things a lot worse. Perhaps she should see if he was telling the truth or not - her lie detector seemed to be flaring yes-no-yes-no and she couldn't get an accurate reading. She held the book up slowly, letting it fall open just to her left and quickly glanced at the book. The pages were empty, just as Mephiles said. She did need a password after all.

In that millisecond that Isis took to look at the pages, Mephiles cast a spell he had been charging up since the beginning of the fight. A black sludge sprang up from the floor, binding Isis' paws to the ground and flicking the book off of her claw. Isis snapped at the strange black gunk, but it always moved out of her way and then went right back to its original position, leaving her trapped. With the book off her paw, the sludge traveled up her arm and forced her final paw onto the ground. Isis strained against the strange substance, but she couldn't budge. It had traveled up her body, all the way to her throat and then froze solid, leaving only part of her back, her neck and head free from the gunk.

Mephiles laughed at Isis as he walked over, snatching up the book that had been knocked four feet away, "Weren't expecting that, were you? I've been trying out some new spells, including the one that messed up your lie detection. Do you like the one I just cast? I made it myself, using shadow bugs from Subspace."

Isis would have cursed at Mephiles if she could talk human in cat form, but unable to she instead let out a roar and shot another energy ball at Mephiles. Once again the blade cut the attack in half.

"It's useless Isis; I've won now. There's no escape for you." Mephiles moved the blade six feet above Isis' neck, horizontal over her body, "This shall be short, for I don't wish to waste my time with fancy executions. Farewell, Isis." Mephiles couldn't help but laugh at the slight bit of panic in Isis' eyes.

Although he probably would have been frightened if he knew why Isis was scared…she wasn't scared of death. She was worried because she knew that would not happen.

X

The blade would have come down, cleanly slicing through the muscled neck just like those shelves - if a certain black hedgehog hadn't decided to show Isis his power once again.

A black spinning blur came at Mephiles, knocking the illusionist hedgehog over and causing the blade to disappear in a small blue mist. Shadow came out of his Spin Dash, offering a small smile to Isis, "Not so tough now, are we?"

"_I never thought I'd be so happy to see someone mock me. My hero." _Isis spoke to Shadow through his mind, _"If you distract Mephiles, I think I can free myself. Then I'll use a smokescreen and we can both scram."_

"Whatever you say," Shadow replied out loud, obviously enjoying the fact that Isis was the one in a compromising position when she had doubted his abilities before. He moved away from Isis while the psychic began gnawing at her prison. Mephiles stood up again after getting his breath back, shooting daggers with his eyes at his new opponent. Thinking that Isis was completely unable to escape, he ignored the trapped panther and instead focused on the Ultimate Life Form.

Shadow dodged a fire ball and launched a Chaos Spear at Mephiles. He was quite surprised when a thin rainbow film lit up on Mephiles' body and his attack was absorbed into it.

"_Did I mention he had a shield?"_ Isis asked Shadow.

"No," Shadow growled, jumping to the side to avoid a psychic beam.

"_Well, he does."_

"Thanks for the info. Real helpful."

"_That's why I said distract, not attack. Draw his attention away from me. I think I'm almost there…"_

Shadow skated backwards, carefully slipping around a corner. Mephiles followed for a moment, and once Shadow stopped to rush forward the darker hedgehog slammed his hands into the ground, causing black, shadowy tentacles to rise from the floor.

The black hedgehog ducked around a shelf, and one of the tentacles slammed down on the spot where he had been standing. Flecks of carpet and wood came away with the appendage; anything underneath at that time would have been crushed.

Isis was slowly chewing away at the shadow bugs, spitting out the chunks to the side. Now frozen, they no longer moved and stayed in small pieces when Isis threw them away. She had managed to get her front two paws free, and while using one to stand on she scratched with the other against her back legs, scraping off more of her prison.

Shadow squirmed away from the tentacles once again, and Mephiles doubled his efforts to capture the black hedgehog. He didn't want to hurt this one - not yet, anyways - as Shadow's value in a prisoner was worth far more than his value as a corpse. Three more tentacles came out from the floor, draining more of Mephiles' power, but the illusionist didn't care - he was going to get that hedgehog, one way or another!

With eleven different limbs out to get him, Shadow was forced to run away to get into a better position. He put on a burst of speed, going from the double digits to the triple in less than a second. Shadow looked little more to Mephiles than a blur, so instead of focusing on Shadow himself Mephiles let the tentacles come up at random, perhaps chancing to snatch Shadow at the same time.

At first, Shadow was fine - he saw what was coming and moved out of the way. However one tentacle was in the shadow of a bookshelf, and when it came up Shadow didn't have enough time. The black hedgehog tripped at the last second, able to keep upright but unable to stop himself from smashing into a stone statue against one of the walls.

Shadow's vision changed from black to bursts of bright color as his head connected with part of the statue; the stony head of a dragon. The sharp spikes on the statue dug into his skin, and a few memories flashed in front of his eyes.

_Black Doom…G.U.N.… Gerald…comet…Sonic…amnesia… running…gunshot…Maria!_

"_Shadow!"_ Isis came to the black hedgehog, who was already attempting to stand up, _"You ok?" _She had freed herself just as Shadow went tumbling.

"Just swell," Shadow replied, an edge now present where there hadn't been any before.

Isis barely acknowledged the tone as the tentacles caught up with them. She faced the tentacles, took a deep breath, and blew. Heavy black smog came from her mouth, quickly darkening the whole room and making it difficult for the other two to breathe. Both hedgehogs started coughing loudly, although Mephiles' seemed more like a wheezing old man compared to Shadow's deep-throated spasms.

"_This way!"_ Isis told Shadow, bumping into his legs. With the smoke stinging his eyes and forcing him to cry, Shadow held onto Isis' tail while she walked towards the exit; wiping his wet eyes and coughing so hard he felt like he was going to spit up an organ or two before they got out of here.

"_Watch yourself. This place is pretty damaged now." _ The smoke was too thick for Shadow to see through, so he relied heavily on Isis to be his guide as they made their way across the room.

Mephiles was unwilling to give up, sending out one more tentacle in the efforts to grab one of the intruders. It managed to wrap around Shadow's leg just as he walked over a pile of books, tripping him again and causing him to yank Isis' tail.

"_No time for this! Let's move it!" _Isis snapped at Shadow, a little harsh because she could see and he couldn't. Shadow used his free foot to smash down on the tentacle, sending a small wave of pain to Mephiles and making the tentacle let go. He pulled himself to his feet, and Isis' tail rubbed his side. He grabbed the appendage again and they exited the room.

"_The smoke has stopped all of Mephiles' commands, so nothing will come after us. But it won't last much longer,"_ Isis said to Shadow while they ran to the tunnel. Shadow only nodded, still a little dizzy from his tumble. _"Hey! You're bleeding! When did you hit your head?"_

"Two minutes ago," Shadow snapped, a familiar tone in his voice that had disappeared a year ago now starting to come back, "And it was because someone's brilliant getaway plan affected me as well as our opponent!"

"_Alright, alright, sheesh. When did you become so grouchy?"_

"This is just who I am," Shadow growled back, seeing the exit in sight, "You should know that by now."

"_What the fuck?"_ Isis thought, this time just to herself as she scrambled into the tunnel after Shadow, _"What's he talking about?" _Isis then remembered what Tails and the others had said; about a year ago Shadow had kept to himself and didn't like people all that much, and then he changed because he forgot -

"_Hey Shadow," _Isis said while they crawled along, _"Who's your father? Tails mentioned him at some point but I don't really remember much about him."_

Shadow snorted at the question, "What does that have to do with now?"

"_I just read something in one of Mephiles' books about taking family members as a possible idea. Just wondering about yours, is all."_

The hedgehog was quiet for a moment, seeming to be deciding whether or not to answer. "That depends," Shadow finally said, "Do you mean my biological father or my creator, who treated me like his son?"

Good thing tones of voices were easier to keep out of psychic waves, otherwise Shadow would get suspicious. _"You have two?"_

"Yes. I am related to a dead alien named Black Doom, but Professor Gerald created me and I consider him to be my father. That answers your question?"

"_Yep. Thanks."_ Shadow didn't say anything else and continued crawling, while Isis knew now that there was no need to wonder if that bump on the head did something to her hedgehog companion.

XXXXXXXXX

Rouge was starting to get a tiny bit worried. Shadow had gone back to check on Isis, but now he had been gone nearly two hours. The sun was beginning to rise by the time the black hedgehog and black cat stopped in front of the same tree outside Eggman's base they had chosen as a rendezvous point, where Rouge was currently resting.

"So there you two are! Took you guys a long time just to get out of there," Rouge said while landing in front of the two.

Shadow scowled at Isis as she morphed back into her human form, "It's her fault."

"I know it is. I'm not gonna deny that. But I did find something interesting out." Isis quickly explained about the strange book and how badly Mephiles wanted to keep it.

"But you don't have the password," Shadow said once Isis was finished, "So that's not helpful."

"Doesn't mean I can't go back and find out."

"You're not going back! Twice you've been there and twice you've been caught! You're not as good as you say you are," Shadow snapped.

"I also happened to have been in the room where Mephiles keeps his most important data and would often visit - besides, I didn't activate the siren. Someone else did," Isis countered; her voice only held a hint of annoyance.

"I had to come to your rescue."

"I could have gotten out myself."

Shadow chuckled at that, "Sure, with a huge sword just a few feet about your head. It took you more than two seconds to chew your way out of your prison."

Rouge stepped in between before they could continue, "Guys, please - no more fighting. We have more important things to think about."

"Fine," Shadow said, turning on his heel and walking away. He was tired of this stupid argument, and with his aching head he wasn't up for a physical fight right now.

Rouge looked at Shadow's retreating back, then at Isis, and then back at Shadow. "Hold on," Rouge said to Isis while still looking at the black hedgehog, "When did Shadow hit his head?"

"When we were escaping," Isis replied, arms crossed.

"Did Shadow tell you what he found?"

"Nope."

Rouge looked at Isis now and said, "Did you have something to do with this?"

"He tripped and slammed into a statue. Wasn't my fault." Isis drummed her fingers on her arm, finally looking at the bat, "I think he's remembered now."

"Remembered what?" Rouge asked.

"The horrors that have occurred in his life. It's too bad, really. His heart from Maria was uncovered for a year, but now buried again. That's a shame. He would be a much better fighter if he learned to let go of all that pain."

"What? You're saying he was nice because he forgot some things?"

Isis nodded and said, "From what I understand, he forgot Maria dying, Black Doom, possibly getting created as a weapon on mass destruction…stuff like that, you know."

"How exactly do you know about all of that?"

Isis shrugged, "Reading random memories in his mind, that's all. My guess is that bump jarred the sleeping part of his mind awake again." Before Rouge could respond, Isis gestured at the base, "Shall we?"

"I don't know…" Rouge looked at the drawings in her hands, "Think these will be enough to bribe Eggman?"

Isis' eyes went wide at the sight, and she snatched the one of a young cat being whipped by a giant mouse away from Rouge. Her eyes scanned the picture, and she mumbled, "I wonder…"

"You're confusing me, Isis."

"Sorry Rouge. It's just that…could I keep one of these pictures?"

Rouge shrugged and handed all five over, "Knock yourself out. Without the money I don't think Eggman will be interested enough anyways."

"Thanks," Isis replied, gathering the drawings in her arms, "These could be very helpful to us."

"How so?"

Isis shook her head, "No point in talking about it until I've confirmed it. You wanna catch up to Captain Mood Swing and ask him about what he found?"

"Sure - he'll probably tell me before anyone else." Rouge gave Isis one last look before flying after Shadow.

Isis finally released her breath once Rouge was out of sight, not even realizing she had been holding it. Shadow had completely forgotten to make her tell about her true reason for being here, which was good. The less everyone knew the better.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic and Knuckles had spent the morning signing autographs at a small toy store which had gotten a shipment of new action figures and stuffed copies of the pair, along with their other friends. It brought tons of new customers to the small business, making the owner extremely excited.

"I can't thank you two enough for coming," he said while handing each hero a thousand dollars, "I made a lot of desperately needed money today thanks to you!"

"No problem," Knuckles said, accepting a stuffy of himself from the man.

"Glad we could help," Sonic added, tossing his stuffy up in the air.

As soon as the two left the store however, Knuckles let out a sigh of relief. "My wrist is killing me. I don't think I've written so much in one sitting in my life," Knuckles said, shaking his hand back and forth.

Sonic laughed, "Me neither. But that wasn't too bad, and we've still got the afternoon to recover."

"Good. I don't think I could take much more before my hand falls off."

Sonic laughed again and tossed his plushie up in the air, the stuffed Sonic turning head-over-heels before being caught. The blue hedgehog repeated his actions, and Knuckles warned, "Keep throwing that thing up and you're bound to lose it."

"Oh please," Sonic said, throwing the stuffed hedgehog a good eight feet above his head, "There's only dust here. It'll be ok if I drop it."

Knuckles just rolled his eyes and kept his stuffed echidna tucked under his arm. With few people on the streets in this part of town, nobody would be hit by the falling Sonic anyways. Not that it would have hurt.

Sonic's throws starting getting a bit more erratic, the blue stuffed hedgehog being thrown left and right. If this had been a busy street, the poor abused stuffy would have been run over three times now. As was, Sonic simply collected his toy from the street before continuing his actions. Eventually one of Sonic's throws sent the stuffed animal flying forwards towards the corner, just as Shadow walked around with Rouge right beside him.

Shadow was startled and jumped back, wondering what the hell had hit him in the face. He was surprised when he looked down to see a stuffed Sonic the Hedgehog, and even more surprised to see the real one running down the street.

"Shadow! Rouge!" Sonic called out, coming to a stop in front of the other hedgehog and bat; Knuckles not far behind.

"How did it go?" Knuckles asked.

"Good enough," Rouge replied, yawning, "We've got something that should make Eggman willing to change sides…"

"What?" Sonic asked.

"Isis has it right now. She's at Tails' place. She'll show you." Rouge stretched and blinked sleepily, "We're both exhausted, so Shadow and I are going to head home for some sleep. We'll catch up with both of you later."

"Alright. Well, Shadow?" Sonic asked his rival and friend, smiling and obviously expecting something.

Shadow looked at Sonic with tired red eyes and sighed, "I'll race you later. I just want to get some sleep right now." The other three present looked at one another, and Shadow realized he hadn't given the answer the others were looking for. "What? What did I say?"

Sonic put a hand on the black hedgehog's shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Shads. Just get some rest and we'll play later, ok?"

The black hedgehog grunted at that, handed the blue stuffed hedgehog back to Sonic and continued walking for home. Rouge shrugged at the other two before following Shadow. They had come this way so they could get home through a quiet route; right now any loud noises would seem ten times stronger in their tired states.

"That was strange. Why didn't Shadow say…?" Knuckles trailed off, looking at the agents' retreating backs, "Ah, they must be tired."

"Yeah. Must be," Sonic whispered; his happy bright eyes suddenly becoming duller and little frightened.

Knuckles placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder, "Cheer up. He still likes you. He's just too tired to think clearly and say -"

"Don't!" Sonic cried out, cutting Knuckles off, "I don't want to think about it."

"Alright, chill. Let's get back to Tails' place and see what Isis has."

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow lay down in his bed, going to sleep out of habit more than need. He was designed to require little rest, but he had gotten so used to sleeping he got tired now like any other being. The black hedgehog slowly closed his eyes, wondering why his stomach was doing little flips when he thought of Sonic, and what he wanted to say to his rival.

"_I must be overtired…" _Shadow thought, sleep slowly overtaking him, _"That must be it…"_

It was easy enough to pass the feelings off when he was awake, but when Shadow awoke a few minutes later from his dream, the blush creeping onto his cheeks wasn't as easy to deny.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic slowly followed Knuckles back to Tails' place, no longer tossing his now dusty stuffed hedgehog around. He was too sad to do that.

Since he and Shadow and met, they had constantly been at each others' throats, trying to prove who was better. As time passed their rivalry cooled down, becoming friendly, and then after years they had become actual friends. Sure, the rivalry was still heavily present, but every so often they had searched the other out not for competition, but for companionship. Sonic didn't get the same adrenaline rush when he ran _with_ Shadow instead of _against_ the Ultimate Life Form, but the fun was still present. It was nice just to relax and share the same love of running at high speeds with the only other possible creature on the whole planet that could ever understand.

They had grown close after all this time, closer than Sonic ever thought would happen…but Shadow hadn't said what Sonic wanted him to. How could he not? It just wasn't -

"_No, Knuckles must be right. Shadow's just tired. But…what if he knows of me whoring myself off? Will he never want to be near me again; automatically declare himself superior because he doesn't sell himself?_

"_Will anyone want to be near me if they find out?"_

"Sonic, would you hurry up?" Knuckles called over his shoulder, seeing the blue hedgehog trailing behind.

"I'm coming!" Sonic replied, dashing past Knuckles to the door of Tails' workshop and nearly into Silver, "Whoa, sorry about that!"

"It's ok," Silver replied, taking a step back to allow Sonic and Knuckles to enter, "I was just leaving to catch up with Blaze."

"Why?"

"She says she found something interesting and asked me to look with her. I'll tell you guys what we find out," Silver replied, running outside.

"Let's go find Tails and ask him how his project is going," Sonic said to Knuckles after Silver left.

X

"Hey guys," Tails said, leaning back in his chair, "How was today?"

"Fine," Sonic replied, leaning against the table that Tails was sitting in front of; a number of sheets and books were piled on top. "So, what's up?"

"I've hit a bit of a bump in this," Tails sighed, letting the front two chair legs touch the ground again and leaning on the table now, "I don't have the supplies necessary to control all of the Emeralds' energy."

"Well, I can go pick it up for you, no problem. What do you need?"

Tails chuckled, "That's the problem. This isn't something I'll be able to get so easily."

"How come?"

"Well…to put it simply I know of a way to disguise the energy, but…a main ingredient I require is mainly used in atom bombs."

"Oh…" Sonic sighed, "So you're not going to be able to get it, are you?"

"What is it that you want?" Knuckles asked.

"Tritium. It's very rare and less than 200 kilograms currently exists on the whole planet. The reason why I want it is because it's an incredibly good booster and can withstand a lot of energy, plus the isotopes it works with are easy enough to make. But since it's so expensive and then with the atom bomb thing…I don't know."

"How much does it cost?"

"About 30,000 dollars…a gram."

"Ouch," Knuckles said, "And how much would you need?"

"I would think less than that, but it's still horribly expensive."

"Could you make a cheaper substitute?"

Tails shrugged, "Maybe. If I keep trying I'm sure I'll come up with something…" Tails scratched behind his ear, "And my headaches aren't helping matters…"

"Headaches? Are you sick, Tails?" Sonic asked, his eyes getting a little worried.

Isis called from somewhere else in the room, "Doubt it - I would think it's more from his new powers building up in his brain. He should use them more."

"On it," Tails replied. He used his new psychic abilities to send a water glass across the room, fill it up and bring it back to his desk.

"Whatever works," Isis said, quiet once more.

"Any way we could get you some of that stuff?" Knuckles asked.

The fox shrugged, "Dunno. I suppose any place housing nuclear weapons would have some, considering it has a short shelf-life, but they won't give any up. No," Tails said, looking back at his plans and the three Emeralds sitting beside him, "I'll think of another way. Don't worry about it."

"If you say so," Knuckles replied, and then lightly pushed Sonic, "Come on. Don't you want to see what Isis has?"

"I guess so," Sonic said, following Knuckles to a different corner of the workshop. After carefully stepping over a number of cables and machine parts they were at the table where Isis was working on a few pieces of paper.

"This place is infested with machines. Won't be too long now before they take over the whole house," Isis said, holding a magnifying glass over one of the pictures and studying it carefully. She stopped at a part in the background, picked up a pencil with her psychic abilities and drew an odd symbol on a notepad.

"What are those?" Sonic asked, pointing at the twenty or so scribbles on the notepad.

"Spell markings. This picture was created with a spell. I'm going to try and translate it," Isis replied, carefully looking through the drawing some more, "They're hidden very well. It's like playing a sadistic game of 'Where's Waldo?'."

"Let me see," Sonic said, snatching one of the pictures in the pile. Immediately his eyes doubled in size. The poor human being tortured, blood dripping from various wounds, the eyes of another pleading in the background…

"What the fuck are these?" Sonic snapped, tossing the picture back down.

"From what I understand so far," Isis said, picking up the notepad and reading, "They seem to be created for causing fear and warping dreams. And those aren't my words - that's what the spell says. I think…" Isis said, sitting back and staring at the drawing she was currently working on, "I think Mephiles is going to attempt to try and get at us through our dreams."

"Too late for that warning for me," Sonic chuckled, sitting on the edge of the desk, "He haunts me all the time."

"Does he now?" Isis asked, "How so?"

Sonic shook his head, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." Sonic was a little surprised when Isis let the topic drop. "If you're not comfortable I'm not going to pressure you. But the one thing that bothers me is what's up with the different images and the receipts. If he's planning on or has already sold these things to other people, what are they being used for? Not everybody can use spells, and I doubt everybody he's sold them to have that ability." Isis began nibbling on the tip of her finger, "Perhaps they somehow influence people through dreams? No, that seems too difficult, and people wouldn't find them believable once they woke up. Maybe Mephiles might be trying to fix up his original plan with the mind-swapping and all. But then why the different images, and why sell them? Argh!" Isis slammed her head down on the table, "This is driving me crazy!"

"I guess you're going to be here for a while?" Knuckles asked, smirking.

"More like all freaking night! There are just so many unanswered questions. Once I translate these symbols I ought to have a better idea, but…" Isis sighed, "It's going to take a long time."

"Well, I have another appointment later tonight, so I'm gonna go for a run before then. What about you, Knux?" Sonic asked, slipping off of the desk.

"I'm going to head back to Angel Island. You guys just give me a shout if you need me, alright?" Knuckles was about to leave when Tails grabbed his arm.

"Hold it, Knuckles. Take this with you," Tails said, handing a small watch over, "It has a communicator so we can call you -"

"I already have one of those!"

"Let me finish! It also has a sort of trial shield. Silver and I have been working on it to detect illusions, perhaps letting us block some of Mephiles' attacks. It'll start flashing here," Tails pointed to a small eye image on the screen, "If someone comes into the area with some of those abilities. Silver will come by later to test its range, so if it starts responding give him a shout. Ok?"

"Fine," Knuckles said, wrapping the green wristband around his left wrist, "I'll see you later." He left after that.

"I'm off too, then. Good luck to both of you!" With a wink, Sonic had disappeared.

Isis let out a small sigh of relief and retrieved the original picture she had been working on. She carefully scanned each line and color, trying to hurry around the part where Mephiles was about to penetrate a shaking, crying Sonic.

XXXXXXXXX

Silver finally caught up to Blaze; the pyrokinetic cat was standing in the middle of the area where they had fought Galleom. "Blaze!" The cat turned around when she heard Silver's voice and waved in greeting. When the psychic hedgehog came to her side he asked, "What's going on?"

"I'll show you." She led Silver to one of the larger piles of rocks; this one was about fifty feet wide and towered thirty feet above their heads up to the gray, cloudy sky.

"Yeah, so what's this?" Silver asked.

"Take a look at this spot," Blaze replied, leading Silver around the rock formation to a flatter point, "At a quick glance this seems like a rock slide or something of the sort, but look at what shape it's in."

Silver looked at the pile of loose rocks, and then backed away. After about twenty steps backwards, Silver realized the pile looked suspiciously too well arranged, like someone had tried to cover something up.

"You think something's under there?" Silver asked.

Blaze nodded, "I was thinking about Galleom - you remember how he paused before he attacked us, right? I don't think Mephiles was giving him orders as much as changing the old ones. I spent a lot of time looking around this place, and finally found this."

"So you want my help moving the rocks?" Blaze nodded. "Alright then…" Silver looked up and sighed, "This could take a while."

XXXXXXXXX

"I tell you, if Mephiles is planning on making more copies of me I'll have his head on a platter by the end of the week!" Shadow was pacing back and forth in Rouge's living room, fists clenched together in anger and eyes flashing.

"Calm down, Shadow. You don't know why Mephiles made the robot. He could simply be testing something and will end up destroying it. Don't do anything hasty," Rouge said, attempting to reach out and touch the Ultimate Life Form. Shadow tensed at the touch; something he hadn't done for over a year now.

Shadow moved away from the hand on his shoulder, still pacing and growling, "Mephiles is really pissing me off. If he attacks again I'm taking him out, one way or another!"

"That's fine Shadow, really, but you're being quite aggressive. I mean, yes you have the right to be mad about the copies, but…don't you think you're taking this a little too far?"

The black hedgehog glared at Rouge, and she flinched due to surprise rather than fear. "You don't know what it's like to think you might be an android."

"I know that, and you know you're the real Shadow the Hedgehog. We all do. And we can easily prove those others are fakes if they show up. Chill out and try to think logically here - what could he use those robots for?"

"Framing us, I guess," Shadow muttered, sitting down on the couch.

"But if we show up, that would cancel it all out. And Mephiles can't come because people know he's a 'bad guy' now."

"Humans are foolish. They fall for everything."

Rouge rolled her eyes, "Every species is fairly dimwitted. And they'll listen if Sonic shows up anyways." She noticed Shadow look at his lap when she said the blue hedgehog's name, "Something bothering you?"

"Huh? No, no…" Shadow wouldn't look up at Rouge, instead turning his gaze to the left, away from her.

The bat smiled, guessing what was up with Shadow, "Thinking about your crush, are you?"

Shadow glared at Rouge again, his cheeks showing a tinge of red underneath his black fur, "No!"

Rouge laughed, "I like how you didn't deny having a crush on Sonic; you just said you weren't thinking about him." Shadow let out an 'hmph' at that and looked away again. Rouge continued on, "Remember how you told me before that Gerald wanted to see for himself that homosexuality is in the genes, so he could have tested it out on you - his excuse being to the other scientists that he didn't wanted you to fall in love with Maria?"

"No," Shadow growled, although he remembered that.

"You think perhaps he got the right gene in you?" Shadow didn't respond. "Come on Shadow - that new bump on your head couldn't have been strong enough to wipe your memory. Remember what you and Sonic have done together?"

Shadow's blush began to darken, "What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters you've kissed, and -"

Shadow ran out of the room.

XXXXXXXXX

After an hour of moving rocks with Blaze trying her best to help, Silver slumped against the rock wall beside the now-cleared doorway. "Finished," Silver panted.

"Shall we check it out?" Blaze said, laughing a little at Silver's glare.

"I'm too thirsty for that. Can't we come back tomorrow?"

A bright light caught both of their attentions before Blaze could reply, and they looked into the cave. A blue light was flickering a few feet away in the tunnel, heading down into the ground. Blaze took a few steps forward and the light moved away.

"Shall we?" Blaze asked again. Silver moaned, but stood up and followed Blaze inside.

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow could still feel his warm cheeks, although the blush was already hidden under his fur now. That dream, and his other - no, some of them weren't dreams, were they?

He didn't deny the time he pretended to force Sonic to have sex, making Sonic realize he needed to see a psychiatrist. That one was real and certainly in his nature. But later he had kissed Sonic in front of the mirror - why again? And then, perhaps -

Shadow sat down on a park bench, resting his forehead in one hand. If Gerald was still alive, Shadow would have to go complain to the scientist about making him so receptive to memory loss.

XXXXXXXXX

Blaze and Silver carefully followed the small light down underground. In a few minutes they came to a cavern, no more than ten feet across and six feet high. The walls were covered with some sort of glowing mushrooms, and there was a small spring bubbling up from the ground.

"Think it's safe to drink?" Silver asked; gaze clearly attached onto the clear water and looking ready to drink regardless if the water was safe or not.

Blaze shrugged and stepped closer to the spring. Multi-colored smooth rocks surrounded the two-foot sized pool, perfectly arranged as though someone had placed them there. A small stone bowl that had been carved with small stars and polished smooth was on the largest rock. Blaze dipped the bowl into the water and filled it, then used her fire abilities to make the water boil.

After a few minutes, she stopped adding energy to bowl and handed it to Silver. "If you wait a little, the water will cool down and then it'll be safe to drink no matter what," Blaze said.

"Alright!" Silver sat down against the cave wall, "Mind if we take break?"

"I guess so," Blaze replied, sitting down beside her friend. She looked around for the light and saw it waiting for them on a different path. "Looks like we have a guide," Blaze said, nudging Silver's shoulder and pointing at the light, "What do you think it is?"

"A fairy?" Silver guessed, still looking at the water and anxiously waiting to drink it.

"Great. Just I want to do today - go off to a magical land with fairies, ride unicorns and host parties in a grand castle wearing pretty pink dresses," Blaze said, snorting a little.

"Well, what do you think?" Silver countered, "I don't hear you suggesting any ideas."

The cat shrugged, "Dunno. Some kind of animal I guess. A firefly."

"Fireflies are bugs, and they don't glow that brightly."

"Whatever! Then some new species of firefly."

"That lives underground?"

Blaze lightly smacked Silver on the head; the hedgehog just laughed and proceeded to drink the now cool water.

X

After Silver had quenched his thirst the two continued to follow the odd light down the tunnel; heading deeper underground with every twist and turn. The earthen floor was packed down hard and they left no footprints in the sweet-smelling dirt ramp. The tunnel was no higher than four and a half feet and no wider than five; just big enough for them to squeeze by.

Two hours had passed before the tunnel finally leveled out into an earthen room; about seven feet high and fifteen feet wide. All of the walls were made of earth except for one, which was plain, white stone.

"Hmm…" Blaze walked forward with Silver right behind, "I wonder what this is?" She placed a hand on the stone.

"Doesn't look like anything," Silver replied, leaning against the wall, "Seems though we walked down here for nothing. Can we leave? I'm tired."

Blaze was about to reply when a soft voice whispered, "Sleep…" Silver slowly closed his eyes and let out a yawn, immediately obeying the ghostly command and was peacefully sleeping against the wall within seconds.

"Silver! Come on now - I'm not carrying you out of here!" Blaze tugged on Silver's arm and ruffled his head quills, but the psychic hedgehog would not awaken.

"Sleep little one, sleep…" The voice came again, and Blaze could feel heaviness behind her eyes - her warning that she was getting tired.

"No…" Blaze grunted, grabbing Silver under the arms and dragging him towards the ramp, "Let's go!"

"Sleep now, sleep…" The voice was soothing, and she was so tired. Blaze sat on the ground, dropping the silver hedgehog onto the earth, and she slowly rolled on her side and let sleep take her.

XXXXXXXXX

It took until sundown before Sonic finally located what he had been looking for. There had been rumors about a nuclear bomb testing sight to the far west. And he had found it.

Sonic stayed far away and looked over the area. Other than the blast site, which he made sure to stay clear of, there was only a small building where the tests had to have been conducted. There were few guards around, which made sense because this place was so well-hidden in the deep gorge and so far away from any civilization (even with super speed it had taken Sonic five hours to get to this point) that it really wasn't necessary.

The blue hedgehog rubbed his arms, the cold November air reminding him that snow would be coming soon, and eventually Christmas. Sonic sat down against the canyon wall, waiting for nightfall and already thinking about what to do for his lover for the holiday.

XXXXXXXXX

Tails had decided to quit for the night, the numbers and letters in front of him looking little more than squiggles. Isis continued to carry on with her work, attempting to decipher the strange patterns in the pictures.

The fox was drinking a glass of water, the cool liquid clearing up his dry throat when the phone rang; at the exact same time, the doorbell sounded. After answering both, Tails went upstairs to check if Sonic was back, not too surprised to see that the blue hedgehog was not in sight. For three nights in a row now Sonic had been coming back late - not a big deal in the summer when it was warm out, but odd now that temperatures were dropping under zero every night.

"_I guess it's a combination of stress and Sonic that keeps him staying out so long…but why can't these people have appointments with Sonic during the day? That doesn't make any sense…"_ Tails sighed and went back downstairs, once again having to tell Sonic's lover that the blue hedgehog wasn't here.

XXXXXXXXX

Immediately after the sun went down Sonic moved towards the small building; having already planned on how to get inside. With only two guards currently out, it was easy for Sonic to sneak past.

Careful of the cameras, Sonic slipped past and quickly found the storage room. After one more check to make sure no one was there he opened the door and entered. This room was fairly large and there didn't seem to be another soul other than Sonic. All of the scientists and physicists must have gone somewhere else for the night.

"_This is almost too easy," _Sonic thought, locating the tritium and lifting the small container off of the shelf.

A loud alarm began to blare, and a handcuff came out from the bricks and snatched Sonic around the wrist, attaching him to the wall.

"'_Almost' being the key word there."_

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow was pacing in his bedroom, having called Tails' place to earlier to see if Sonic was there. The fox had said Sonic had some appointment again and wouldn't be home until very late. There was no point in running over now, and with his confused mind there was no way he could relax.

The black hedgehog slumped on the end of his bed, wondering what he could do with himself. While still on the forced vacation he wouldn't be assigned anything so heading over to the G.U.N base was useless; Eggman wasn't attacking nor was there any other disaster of the week going on…at least not any that he knew about.

Shadow flicked on the TV in his room, mindlessly skipping all of the news until a breaking news story began, talking about a number of strange creatures that were tearing down trees in a rainforest…

The TV screen had barely begun to turn black before Shadow was gone.

XXXXXXXXX

Amy sighed in both contentment and disappointment as she walked downtown at night to check out the fair that came once each year - usually called by spectators as the Magic Fair, for after Halloween magicians and fortunetellers of all sorts gathered here to put on shows during the evening and well into the night. Amy watched a man guess a volunteer's card and thought about tomorrow. She had managed to get another appointment at a charity event for Sonic and her to attend. They would get another 2,500 dollars for showing up (a sum Amy found ironic considering the event was for charity) but she would stay to help out afterwards as well, and the foster kids would something to be really happy about. As patient as Sonic was with children, he didn't have the tolerance she had, but probably would suck it up for the kids this time around.

She had gone to Tails' house earlier to tell Sonic, but Tails had checked and Sonic was still at some other appointment. He promised to make Sonic call tomorrow morning, when he should arrive home.

The pink hedgehog was continuing down the street when she saw a familiar bat browsing through the shops. "Rouge!" Amy called out, and the bat turned when she heard her name.

Rouge waited until Amy ran up to her, "Yes, what do you want?"

"What are you doing here?" Amy asked.

"Checking the sights out like you…and thinking about those pictures…"

"What pictures?"

"Didn't anyone tell you?" When Amy shook her head, Rouge explained about the terrifying drawings she had found in Mephiles' base.

Amy shuddered when Rouge was finished, "That's awful!"

Rouge nodded her agreement, "Yes…but there's one thing that really bothers me more than anything else."

"What?"

The bat grabbed Amy's arm, taking her to a side alley while the pink hedgehog protested. When Rouge was certain they were alone, she lowered her voice, "Don't say a word of this to anyone else until I'm certain, alright?"

Amy nodded, and Rouge held out a piece of black paper, covered with glitter. "When I was looking at all of those pictures, I came across one that seemed to affect me more than any of the others. I passed the feeling off as nothing, but it wouldn't go away. Even now I can't stop thinking about it. Then while here, I went to a fortuneteller for fun…but look what she wrote for me."

The pink hedgehog took the piece of paper from Rouge and unfolded it. Written on the black paper in spidery white writing was a fortune:

_For years you have stayed strong_

_Yet in two days' time you will no longer be able to resist_

_Fight all you want, but you will only be free_

_When you destroy another's innocence_

"So what does it mean?" Amy asked, handing the paper back.

Rouge sighed, "I'm hoping it's just a coincidence, but...that picture still haunts me."

"What was the picture of?"

"…It was of me raping Knuckles." Rouge continued when she saw Amy's concern, "Hey, I would _never_ do that to anyone! I don't know what Mephiles is thinking, but there's no way he'll get me to do anything like that!"

Amy was about to ask something else when a small voice called out, "Amy! Rouge!" A small bee flew into the alley, coming to a stop right in front of the girls.

"Charmy! What's wrong?" Amy asked.

Charmy had a cut on his arm and a rather large bump on his head. He winced a bit at the pain and said, "We were ambushed by some monsters. They beat up Vector real bad and kidnapped Espio!"

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic kicked the wall where the chain was attached; after a few hits a chunk of the brick broke and Sonic was free. The blue hedgehog ducked behind a shelf as the guards came into the room waving their flashlights around and having their guns ready to fire.

"Where's the thief? I don't see anyone!"

"Spread out, and don't let him get away!"

Sonic would have to hurry if he wanted to avoid being spotted. He stayed as far away from the guards as possible before sprinting the short distance to the door and making his getaway.

Another three guards came around the corner, and one was barking into his radio to have the front door locked shut. Sonic quickly turned on his heel and went the other way, tightly holding onto the tritium as he looked for another escape route. With no windows in this place he was left sprinting down the hallways, too fast for anyone to get a good glimpse at.

Sonic had been running in tight circles for a few minutes, but people were everywhere. With no other options Sonic went to the front of the building which was an outside wall, tucked the tritium close to his stomach and went into a spin dash, drilling through the wall and setting himself free.

With blaring sirens sounding right behind him Sonic ran off, running a couple miles before carefully depositing the tritium behind a rock and piling others stones around it to keep the container hidden. He also took a rock and smashed it against the metal cuff around his wrist, setting himself free from the evidence.

The blue hedgehog then ran back towards the testing lab and up to one of the scientists, now outside looking for traces of the perpetrator. "I was running by and heard the commotion. What's going on?" Sonic asked, sure that he looked quite innocent.

The male scientist smiled upon seeing the blue hero, "Oh Sonic, you're a few seconds too late! Somebody came in and stole a very important and expensive ingredient to our research, but they got away."

"They did?" Sonic said, looking back and forth, "I didn't see anybody on my way over. Which way did they go?"

"They were moving so fast, nobody knows!"

"Moving fast enough so you guys couldn't see? Only Shadow and I can do that, and I know where he is - at home, sleeping. There's no one else around that can match our speed!"

The scientist sighed, "Unfortunately there is, and they're strong too. See that hole in the wall over there?" Sonic followed the scientist's pointing finger, "They made that, and broke part of another wall inside."

Sonic whistled, "Wow. I'd like to meet this guy, if he's that strong and fast. He sounds like a fun fight!"

"Be careful if you find him, Sonic. If it's not you or Shadow, maybe this person is working for that new guy…Mephiles; was that his name?"

The blue hedgehog nodded, "Yep, I remember that guy. It's possible." Sonic thought for a moment, finger on his chin and looking off into the distance. He then looked back at the scientist and asked, "What about security cameras? Did they catch any images?"

"Only blurs and we can't make them any clearer. No; we're stumped for clues. There are no hairs, no fingerprints or footprints - nothing! This was a clean theft."

"I'll run around and take a look for this guy. I'll let you guys know if I find anything - but if I don't come back, it means I haven't found anything either. Alright?"

The scientist smiled, "Thank you so much, Sonic. I hope you do find that thief!"

"I'll try," Sonic replied, "Good luck!" He took off away from where he hid his prize, and once out of sight he went up the canyon wall, circled around and went back down.

Sonic couldn't help but smile as he uncovered the tritium. That little theft had gone very well. Perhaps he had been a little lucky, but as long as they thought he was on their side no one would think of him being the crook, and he had cleared Shadow's name as well.

With that business out of the way, Sonic only had a quick appointment before he was done for the night earning him another six thousand and bringing their total to over 70,000 dollars. Tomorrow Tails could get started on a way to protect the Emeralds and everything should go smoothly from there on.

It had been a good night.

_**I'll be so glad when I can bring everything together instead of seemingly having multiple plot threads going on. I'm thinking only one more chapter should be like this (I hope) before it all comes together nicely. **_

_**Also, I'm going to try and make myself update from now on every two weeks (twice a month) so the story moves along faster. I'll have to see.**_


	12. Corruption

Espio struggled against the ropes that bound his hands and ankles, as well as the powerful arm of the strange, wolf-like creature that held him. The wolf let out a grunt and shifted its hold, moving a three-fingered clawed hand onto the small of Espio's back, keeping the chameleon pressed against its shoulder.

While this wolf-man walked on two legs, the other three creatures loping by its sides ran on all four. One was a giant brown cat; the other two jackal-like and drooling heavily. Espio scanned back and forth through the dark forest, the dried brown leaves from the trees crunching beneath the monsters' feet. Because he was facing backwards Espio couldn't see where they were taking him - but more disappointingly, he couldn't see anybody coming after him.

Of course, that was no surprise, considering what had happened. The three detectives had been at the after-Halloween fair, everything had been fine…and then they heard a woman's scream from a dark alley. Perhaps because of the music and chatter nobody else heard, but the Chaotix did. They had rushed down the alley, seeing a sobbing woman at the end. Vector had immediately rushed over to her side, but then she vanished without a trace. A dark shadow had then come down on the crocodile. Espio winced, remembering the sound of Vector's head cracking against the cold concrete. The wolf-man he was currently being carried by had jumped down from the roof of a department store four stories high, and the pressure on the crocodile's skull knocked Vector out cold. Charmy had been next, as the cat had leaped out of the shadows to cripple Charmy's wings, but with a quick dodge the bee had escaped with only a deep cut.

Espio had tried to get to Vector, but the two jackals appeared, snarling and snapping at his feet. The chameleon had called for Charmy to get out as the two dogs and one wolf-man jumped him. He had twisted and dodged, moving around the alley and keeping all eyes focused on him, hopefully providing Charmy with enough time to get away. With carefully planned invisibility he had a slight advantage, but these creatures relied on scent more than sight and that was something he couldn't disguise. Despite that, he had only gained two small wounds after ten minutes, but when the cat had returned from chasing Charmy he had been taken. They picked up his scent and had surrounded him on all four sides, and with nowhere to run or climb they stalked in closer and closer until he was completely trapped. The cat had got him first, gripping his ankle lightly enough not to do damage but hard enough to let Espio know that if he moved, he'd lose his foot. The two jackals had each grabbed a wrist in the same manner as the cat, and then the wolf-man had bound him. He was then thrown over the wolf-man's shoulder, and was somewhat relieved to see that Charmy wasn't there - perhaps the honeybee had gotten away, or maybe the cat had done something worse…

The monsters walked right past Vector and climbed back onto the rooftops, taking their captive with them. And so for the past hour Espio had been along for a very bumpy and chilly ride.

A small drop of water hit Espio's nose, making him blink. He looked up to see soft, fluffy flakes of snow beginning to fall from the cloudy sky. His captors would be ok - they had thick fur after all - but as for himself?

Espio shivered and buried deeper into the thick fur of his wolf captor, knowing that he couldn't escape at the moment. He silently hoped that their destination wasn't too far away.

XXXXXXXXX

Being on the same side of the world as home but much farther south meant Shadow had escaped from the chills of winter to the heat waves of summer. While Shadow was made to survive drastic temperature changes, he never liked such extreme weather. Thick snow made it a hundred times more difficult to complete a mission, while hot sun made everything incredibly uncomfortable. Having run thousands of miles in under an hour, the steamy air combined with his higher body temperature made Shadow's fur stick close to his skin in little clumps. The black hedgehog rubbed his arms as he made his way towards the scene, trying to get rid of the odd feeling.

Sure enough, past the small crowd of confused onlookers, excited reporters and silent G.U.N agents were about two dozen scaly creatures. Standing at about ten feet in height with dark green scales, the monsters circled the bases of a number of trees, their large feet smashing all of the mushrooms and flowers to pulp. Their bodies started out like any normal lizard except on a larger scale for about six feet before rising up at the waist, with the upper halves clearly humanoid. Stomping around on four feet while slashing at the trunks with two clawed hands, roaring all the while, they made for a strange sight.

"Shadow!" The black hedgehog looked around, trying to spot the person who said his name, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be taking a holiday."

Finally spotting the G.U.N commander, Shadow nodded as the human made his way over. "I came on my own accord." The hedgehog then gestured to the lizards, "Why isn't anyone doing something about this? Shouldn't you be trying to take them out?"

As a reply, the commander simply pulled out his gun, took aim at one of the lizards and fired a single shot. Instead of the cry of pain and the squirt of blood Shadow thought would occur, the bullet lightly clicked against the hard scales and then dropped to the ground, harmless.

"What about the eyes, then? Those couldn't be defended by scales."

The commander shook his head, "Same problem - the bullets just reflect off. And it's not just bullets - everything we've tried has had the same effect. They don't even respond if someone goes up and kicks them, luckily for those who've tried." The commander turned to look at one of the soldiers, who turned away with flushed cheeks.

"So what now?" Shadow asked, moving towards the lizards with the commander following.

"They aren't attacking any humans - they just seem to be searching the trees for something. All we can do right now is wait until they find whatever they're looking for."

Shadow nodded and stood still, watching the violent amber eyes with his own vibrant ruby ones.

XXXXXXXXX

The air was thick with a white fog; the warm air difficult to breathe and making Blaze's head feel stuffy. The princess let out a small groan and slowly sat up, leaning back on one elbow while rubbing her itchy eyes with the other arm. "Ugh…feels like a sauna in here," Blaze said, blinking away the last bits of sleep. The world was white all around, the fog looking thick enough to touch - just like the big puffy clouds on summer days. Blaze knew that you couldn't really sit on a cloud due to the fact it was just water droplets, so she was quite surprised when she reached out and was able to take a handful of the cloud. The fog had the same color and texture as cotton balls, only damper. The only space clear of the murk was where Blaze was sitting - and she easily noticed the absence of a certain psychic hedgehog.

"Silver? Can you hear me? Silver!" Blaze called out, but the thick smog muffled her words. Wondering if her friend was still asleep, the cat began walking through the gloom, her pace slowed as if she was walking through deep snow. "Silver! Say something! Silver!" Blaze kept shouting as she pushed her way through the cloud. It was impossible to tell where she was going, and with the ground covered with the fog if there were any obstacles in the way, she wouldn't know until she hit them. The only clear space was where she stood, with a good foot-sized pocket of air surrounding her on all sides.

Yet she hadn't seen another pocket which could belong to her friend.

"I'll never forgive myself if he's hurt because of me…" Blaze whispered to herself as she walked, starting to get a little worried. It was difficult to say how long her air would last, if it could possibly run out, and if Silver was still asleep…he could pass out and be gone within minutes.

The thought made Blaze double her efforts, and she clawed her way through the fog while still calling out Silver's name. After a few minutes, the fog began getting thinner and lighter…until finally Blaze pushed her way into a small clear space about five feet wide. A dark shape was lying on the ground, obscured by the murk.

"Silver? Is that you?" Blaze slowly walked over, and inwardly let out a sigh of relief as she saw the psychic hedgehog's outline on the ground. "Come on, wake up! We need to get out of here!" Blaze lightly kicked Silver's side with her toe, and noticed that his fur was thinner than normal. "Silver…?" The figure on the ground made no signs that it had heard the princess.

Blaze reached down into the fog to grab Silver's hand, grasping his gloved fingers and pulling up with a sharp yank, "Come on, what's with you? Let's go!"

There was a sharp crack, and Blaze's eyes doubled in size as she not only pulled up Silver's hand, but his entire severed arm as well. Scratched bones were showing through the rotting cloth and gray fur, stained with old blood. Pieces of muscle tissue long dried up were hanging from flaps of skin; but worst of all the entire arm was crawling with large white maggots.

XXXXXXXXX

Rouge had left as soon as the ambulance came to take Vector and Charmy to the hospital. A quick inspection of the frightened young bee showed that Charmy would require stitches for the long gash the cat had gave him. But it wasn't the idea that somebody would be sewing him up like a teddy bear that had Charmy scared - what terrified him was the fact that Vector was in a coma and nobody knew where Espio had gone.

"Vector! Vector! Come on Vector, wake up!" Charmy pleaded to his unconscious friend, holding the crocodile's hand and barely staying in the air due to his exhaustion. Vector didn't reply, but one of the ambulance attendants helping to lift the crocodile into the van noticed Vector's heartbeat speed up for a moment when Charmy spoke.

"It's a good sign," the attendant said to Amy as they strapped the gurney down, "It means that Vector isn't in too deep - he seems to recognize Charmy's voice. He's better off than we thought he was. He should wake up soon."

"That's good," Amy said, sighing in relief, "Should I come along?"

The attendant shrugged, "Might as well. Charmy is freaking out, and we could use somebody with their senses with them to sort things out."

"Then I'll go. I just hope Rouge will be ok…" Amy said quietly, looking back at the alley where Rouge had gone as she climbed into the back of the ambulance.

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow scowled at the lizards as his Chaos Spears disintegrated again. Despite his attacks being on a whole different level compared to simple bullets or lasers, they weren't having any affect either.

"Told ya they wouldn't work," one of the G.U.N soldiers said, smirking at the frustrated Ultimate Life Form. Shadow glared back before facing the lizards again and letting out a huff.

"If that damn Mephiles was here right now I'd tear him to pieces," Shadow growled as the G.U.N commander walked up to him, "Where the hell is he?"

"Some of the locals reported a black and ice-blue hedgehog walking around here, but if that was Mephiles he certainly isn't here now. I wanted to speak to him personally." The human crossed his arms and looked at the lizards, still stomping around the same small patch of land and scratching at the ground and trees. The onlookers had gotten bored with the situation and had wandered off. Now only the small G.U.N force remained; only about twenty soldiers, excluding the Commander and Shadow, all except the latter two no longer paying attention to the monsters.

"Is that why you're here?" The Commander nodded, so Shadow continued, "Why would you want to talk with him? Shoot the bastard instead!"

The Commander chuckled, "Sorry Shadow. As long as you're on vacation I'm not saying a word."

Shadow scowled at that, and after looking back at the lizards he growled, "You were quick to fire at me though, weren't you?"

The black hedgehog smiled slightly when he heard the slight bit of discomfort in the Commander's voice. "Yes, well, I was blinded by anger then," the human coughed, "I don't let my emotions get the better of me anymore."

"Sure, whatever you say." Shadow watched the strange monsters trash the small area, slowly letting his mind wander. His thoughts returned to the robot double, and ruby eyes narrowed at the thought of Mephiles creating copies of _him_, the Ultimate Life Form! How dare he!

With a growl, Shadow charged up another Chaos Spear and launched it at the same lizard monster the G.U.N soldiers had focused on before realizing they were doing no damage. The attack struck the lizard hard in the shoulder, and with a loud crack the invisible red shield that had covered the monster before shattered into a thousand pieces, crumbling to the creature's feet. The lizard whipped its head around, now noticing the angry black hedgehog. It let out a hiss; its snake-like tongue flickering between cracked lips; two sharp fangs showing from beneath the dry flesh. The monster faced Shadow and let out a roar.

"Shields," Shadow snarled, glaring right back into the lizard's yellow eyes, "Of course."

"What are you talking about?" the Commander asked.

"Mephiles has shields on these things. You can't hurt them until you destroy the shields first. It must have been too dark to see them before."

The other soldiers had quickly come over, aiming at the monster. "We're ready to fire on your orders, sir," one of them said.

The Commander placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder just as the hedgehog was about to lunge forward. "Don't get in the fight, Shadow. The other demons haven't noticed us." Oblivious to what was going on, the other creatures kept searching the area. "We can take them out one at a time, without your help."

Shadow shook his head and shrugged the hand off, "I won't get hit by a bullet. And I'm up for a good fight."

"No, Shadow. And that's an order."

"How can you give me orders when I'm on 'vacation'? Shouldn't that mean I'm free to do whatever I want?"

The Commander frowned at the smirking hedgehog, "I'm not going to work with your logic right now. If something major comes up I'll call on you, but right now we don't need your help. Go home."

"No," Shadow replied, glaring back at the Commander. The two continued to stare at each other while the monster hissed and snarled, stomping its feet and looking like it was going to charge. The G.U.N soldiers had their weapons ready, giving each other small glances while waiting for an order, or for the monster to attack.

The two old enemies-turned-allies continued to stare at each other, neither willing to back down. "Fine," the Commander said after a minute of silence, "We'll start attacking the others, and you can take out this one."

"Thank you," Shadow replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"But after these creatures are taken care of, you leave. Understood?"

"I suppose that's the best I'll get." Shadow went into a Spin Dash while the Commander ordered for the others to begin firing at the still-shielded monsters.

XXXXXXXXX

Isis was still staring at the disturbing drawings, refusing to give up before she translated the symbols. They seemed to be more riddle-like than anything else, and with lack of sleep her mind just couldn't coordinate anything.

The sound of the front door slamming open caught Isis' attention, and she looked at her watch and then at the stairs. It was ten past two - who the hell would be up at this hour? Tails had gone to bed hours ago; Sonic was AWAL, so Tails said Sonic's lover had no real reason to be here…

"_I suppose the two hedgehogs could have found each other and come back together…"_ Isis listened carefully, only picking up the sounds of one person's footsteps, _"No? Maybe it is Sonic - I'm gonna check quickly just to make sure." _Isis quietly padded up the stairs and headed towards the front door. She walked to the entryway and saw Sonic locking the back door behind him, tail tucked between his legs and a metal container by his feet.

"Where the hell have you been?" Isis asked, crossing her arms. "It's two in the morning."

Sonic jumped at the voice but didn't turn around. "What about you?" Sonic questioned instead of answering, "Why are you up?"

"Deciphering a code, although I think I'll have to call it quits for the night. Now how about answering me?"

"I don't have to," Sonic muttered, using his left foot to move the container to his front so he could pick it up, "I'm older than you."

"Are not."

"Are too! You said you were thirteen!"

Isis let out a small laugh, "That's the short form of my age. Try thirteen _thousand _years."

Sonic almost turned around to look at Isis, but stopped at the last moment and stayed facing the door, "Liar. Nobody could be that old."

The psychic frowned; not because Sonic doubted her age (which was a lie anyways) but because he wouldn't look at her. What was he hiding?

"At least I deserve to be looked at while someone's talking to me. Turn around, Sonic." Isis tapped her foot against the ground while Sonic stiffened, "Well?"

"It's late. I'm going to bed." Sonic attempted to dash past Isis, but the psychic expected Sonic would try something of the sort and had already blocked the path upstairs with an invisible psychic shield. The blue hedgehog bounced off the shield and crashed into her, sending both toppling onto the stairs; the metal container bounced down and rolled back towards the front door.

Sonic quickly got up and snatched the container, still refusing to look at Isis. "What's in there?" Isis asked, pointing to the metal cylinder.

"Tritium. For Tails," Sonic replied, holding the container close.

Isis whistled, "You've got a lot of pull around here, don't ya? That stuff's hard to come by. How much did you get?"

"A lot. Enough for Tails. Now can I go?"

"Why won't you look at me?"

"No reason."

"Now who's the liar? Come on, I don't bite…often."

"I said no!" Sonic dashed downstairs to the workshop, but Isis didn't follow. Instead, she crept quietly to the top of the stairs, being careful not to make the steps creak. She then hid around the corner of the hallway and waited for Sonic to return. It took a few minutes, but sure enough Sonic came upstairs again. He carefully observed the area before attempting to make it to his room before he was caught. The blue hedgehog seemed nervous and kept his head down the whole time he climbed the stairs, scanning the area around him with tired green eyes.

"Gotcha!" Isis whispered, snatching Sonic's wrist and yanking him close to her. She dragged the hedgehog towards the stairs so the light in the entryway would illuminate his features, "I don't see what -" Isis stopped in mid-sentence upon seeing the blue hedgehog's face, ending with a soft, "Oh."

Sonic winced, as he knew what Isis was seeing. Semen, a lot of it still sticky and warm, was covering the hedgehog's face from forehead to chin. A lot of it was congregated around his mouth, but obviously making Sonic swallow the stuff wasn't the other male's intention. It almost looked like someone had taken a cup of melted wax and painted all over Sonic's face.

Isis wasn't quite sure what to say now. She honestly wasn't sure of who Sonic's lover was - whenever the others talked about it, they always described the other hedgehog as something vague (Isis suspected it was because they didn't want the whole thing getting out and then have the couple harassed, as the paparazzi would be sure to do about such a thing) but this also meant she didn't know the gender. Tails had mentioned at some point about Sonic's confusion when she had asked, so it was possible that Sonic was with another boy. But it felt rude to flat-out ask.

The only problem with the idea of the semen being from Sonic's lover was the fact that nobody had come with the blue hedgehog. And what kind of boyfriend would make their lover keep semen on their face when they went home? It was a cruel thing to do to someone you loved.

"Oh…" Isis said softly again, "You were…uh…getting a little action tonight, huh?" Sonic slowly nodded, not meeting Isis' flustered gaze, "Sorry for bringing this up, but…shouldn't you have cleaned up before you left wherever you two were getting busy?"

"No time," Sonic mumbled, scratching behind his ear, "We almost got interrupted, so…"

"I see," Isis replied, her lie detector still on the blitz. _"If this thing doesn't fix itself soon I'm going to kill Mephiles."_ "I guess you'll be washing up now, right?"

"Yeah…" the blue hedgehog looked around nervously, "Is anyone else here?"

"Just Tails, but he's sleeping. You're safe."

Sonic let out a soft sigh, "Good." Isis let go of his hand and Sonic walked past her, heading to his bathroom. He stopped at the door and looked back at Isis, "Um…you won't tell anyone about this, will you?"

Isis shook her head, "Nope. Your sex life is your business. As long as you aren't sleeping with someone who hasn't hit puberty yet I honestly don't care."

Sonic pretended to be offended, gasping and covering his mouth with his hand, "Are you saying you think I'm a Pedo-hedgehog?"

The psychic let out a small laugh, "No, and I'm glad to see you still have a sense of humor at this hour. Get some rest. See ya in the morning." Isis went back downstairs, only stopping to check in Silver's room. The psychic hedgehog wasn't in sight.

"What the hell have Blaze and Silver been doing all day? Did they go to an all-night party or what?" Isis stared at the neatly made bed for a few moments before snapping her fingers, "Oh yeah, they were supposed to go see Knuckles…they're probably trying to work things out with him." Her tired mind easily accepted the suggestion as it was eager to get her body to rest. Isis collapsed on the couch, asleep within moments.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic pulled off his gloves and kicked his shoes and socks to the corner of the bathroom before getting in the shower. With the hot water on full blast Sonic faced the stream and scrubbed his face hard with a washcloth. This had been the roughest night so far, and his tailhole ached horribly.

He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. If Isis got it into her head to tell someone what she saw, then he'd have a lot to account for, and everybody would be so, so disappointed in him. But this was the best option - hell, he'd only been charging such low prices because he needed Bob's help and it was basically assumed around the planet that he wasn't a virgin any more (which was true, of course, although people often thought that even when he was still pure). If he charged prices too high, he wouldn't be able to find enough people willing to pay. But still, he needed perhaps two or three more appointments…

Sonic sighed and turned off the shower, having cleaned himself off as best as he could. Right now this was working, so he'd stick with it. He'd just need to think of a way to keep Isis quiet.

XXXXXXXXX

Espio let out a small grunt as his chin hit the wolf's hard shoulder, waking him from his slumber. It was late and he was tired; with no other options he unwittingly had fallen asleep on the monster's shoulder. The chameleon blinked sleepily and looked around, groaning when he saw they were still in the forest. They had to have been walking for hours now; with the snow, cold temperature and lack of fur Espio was going to get frostbite soon.

"_This walk is never ending,"_ Espio thought to himself, trying to get comfortable on the wolf's shoulder. It was bad enough when he tried to cover his face when the fur was dry - now wet with snow, the wolf-man smelled like a wet dog, but ten times stronger. The stench was starting to get to the chameleon.

"Are we there yet?" Espio asked mimicking what Charmy certainly would have done if they had taken him too; although Espio knew it was useless to try to strike up a conversation. These things were too primitive to talk, but they certainly did understand escape attempts, as the three claw marks on Espio's back clearly indicated.

To Espio's surprise, the wolf-man suddenly stopped in its tracks, and the other creatures gathered at its sides. A bright light shone down from the dark, cloudy sky above, and Espio twisted in his captor's arms to get a better look. _"What's going on?" _

The sound of chains being dropped down caught Espio's attention, and then he was rudely tossed to the ground. The chameleon cursed before attempting to sit up, just as the wolf-man began attaching a harness around his chest.

"What's going on here?" Espio asked out loud this time, getting no reply other than a snarl. The black harness currently being put on him was just like those of mountain climbers, except his was attached to a long metal chain instead of a climbing rope. Following the chain's path, Espio looked up to see what looked like a giant firefly with the other end of the chain wrapped around its middle. "Don't tell me I'm going for a midnight flight - mmm!" Espio struggled against the black cloth gag being forced into his mouth, "Stumph its! Mmm!" With the gag securely in place a similar dark cloth was tied around his eyes, completely blinding the chameleon.

The wolf-man and other creatures backed away while Espio struggled to think of a reason why he had been kidnapped and then carried hundreds of miles only to be picked up by a giant bug. The buzzing of the giant firefly's wings got louder and Espio felt himself being lifted off of the ground.

"_Of all the things I've had to deal with in my life…this honestly has to be the most ridiculous and weirdest of them all,"_ Espio thought, shivering in the cold air as he was lifted off of the ground and flown through the forest.

XXXXXXXXX

Blaze continued to stare at the severed arm, watching the maggots crawl through Silver's tissue and eating bits along the way. The stench of rotting flesh was overpowering, and there were so many maggots on Silver's corpse Blaze swore she could _hear_ them chewing. Too shocked to do anything else, Blaze dropped the arm back to the ground and took one tiny peek at the remains of her friend. She was almost sick - his stomach was torn open and his organs spilt onto the ground, his lower half torn to shreds and each cut filled with little worms. But what really got to Blaze were the large worms and maggots happily dancing inside Silver's now empty eye sockets and open mouth.

"_Don't…panic…don't…panic…get a hold of yourself Blaze,"_ the cat thought to herself, breathing slowly in and out, _"Your best friend's rotting corpse may be just a few inches in front of you, but that's no reason to panic…deep breaths now…breathe slowly…stay calm…how do I get out of this nightmare?"_

Not wanting to see any more of her dead friend, Blaze turned and ran away, pushing her way through the thick fog as fast as she could. "Silver's dead, Silver's dead…I killed Silver because I brought him here! It's all my fault!" Blaze said to herself over and over while she tried to get away from the gruesome image of maggots eating away at her best friend. She bit the inside of her cheek when she felt tears coming; she was not going to cry until she got out of here and out of danger.

Blaze didn't care where she ended up; as long as she was far away from that nightmare it was all good. After endless minutes of digging through the cloud bank Blaze collapsed into another pocket of clean air.

"I'm…I'm sorry Silver…" Blaze whispered, her shoulders shaking with held in tears, "I didn't know this would happen. I didn't want you to die. Please, please forgive me…" The princess squeezed her eyes shut as a few tears finally slipped out of her hurt yellow eyes, trailing down her cheeks and landing on the foggy ground. She sat down in the thick fog, trying to calm herself and think clearly about the whole situation; breaking down with grief was the last thing she should do right now.

"Don't cry, Blaze," a voice said from close by. Blaze gasped and looked up, searching for the source. "I'm alright." Blaze let out a shriek of surprise as she saw the fog on the ground ahead of her move. The rotting Silver slowly sat up and turned its head to look at Blaze; the maggots and worms still crawling underneath his thin pelt. His jaw was hanging loose due to gravity and his skull was cracked open, allowing for his holey brain to show through; tunnels dug by the creatures that now inhabited Silver's body. Silver's ribcage was barely intact and was unable to hold his innards, allowing the organs to spill onto his lap.

Blaze couldn't do anything but stare in shock as Silver lifted up his severed arm with the one still attached and rasp, "But you didn't have to go and pull off my arm."

XXXXXXXXX

Shadow bounced off of the lizard's shield, activating his hoverskates and keeping himself upright just before he would have hit the ground. The monster snarled and stomped, but once again did not attack. A wave of bullets began slamming the creature, and Shadow was forced to back off to avoid being hit. Besides, there were another ten or so other targets he could go after instead.

Due to the power of the shields, the creatures took some time to take down, but once the last one burst into a cloud of dark sparkles the creatures' intentions were revealed. "They weren't looking for something!" one of the soldiers growled, reloading his gun and glaring at the now revealed hole about six feet wide, just behind where the monsters had been making a ruckus, "They were hiding this from our view!"

"Looks pretty deep," another said, peering down into the darkness, "A good hundred feet or more into the ground would be my guess."

"Must have been a distraction to get something done," added a third.

Shadow had to squeeze past two pairs of soldiers' legs to get a look, inwardly a little annoyed about being half the size of some of the soldiers. He looked down the hole and nodded, "Right. I'm going in."

"No you're not!" A rough pull on Shadow's right shoulder made the hedgehog stumble back. The Ultimate Life Form whirled around and was about to protest when the Commander cut him off, "You've been straining yourself for the past few months, and it's barely been a week since you've been off duty. We can handle this without you." The black hedgehog let out a grunt at that, crossing his arms and staring angrily. The Commander ignored Shadow's glare. "Dawn is coming and we all need to rest," the Commander said, now speaking to all of the troops, "A different squad will be sent down and will report back what they find. Let's pull out of here - no one's in danger."

The soldiers shrugged and began packing up, happy to get home and rest. Shadow, however, waited until the hole was no longer surrounded before turning around and heading towards the vertical tunnel.

"Shadow, stop!" a soldier called out, but it was too late. Shadow had jumped down the hole and was gone.

"Damn it all," the Commander growled, glaring at the spot where the black hedgehog had just been standing, "Why must he be so stubborn?"

XXXXXXXXX

While he was falling, Shadow thought to himself it probably would have been smart to grab a flashlight before he jumped, as it was sure to completely black down there. After carefully landing without breaking both his legs with the combination of hoverskates and skill, the black hedgehog was surprised to see that the vertical tunnel now extended in four directions horizontally, and all were lit up by dim lanterns. Large metal pipes were running along both sides of the tunnels, rattling as whatever they were carrying bounced along.

"What the hell?" Shadow whispered, looking back and forth. He looked at each tunnel carefully, but it was impossible to tell if somebody had gone down any of them. The dirt was both loose and packed, although not a single spot looked like tire tracks or footprints from anything.

"Guess I'll take a random one," Shadow decided, choosing the one north of the entrance. After quickly burning an arrow into the dirt pointing down the tunnel he had chosen with his hoverskate, Shadow began to move down the tunnel, keeping a careful eye out for any more monsters.

XXXXXXXXX

"_This can't _possibly_ get any more messed up,"_ Espio thought to himself as he felt the plastic tube turning. The firefly had carried him for some time before slowly lowering the chameleon into a large plastic tube and let go. It seemed to be some sort of slide, and if he wasn't tied up, blindfolded and had a large metal chain clattering along behind him Espio probably would have had a lot more fun. As was, he laid back and let himself slide down the tube - it was too steep for him to stop himself while bound anyways.

Minutes later Espio landed facedown on a soft mat, letting out an 'Oof!' as he didn't expect the ride to end so soon. The chameleon heard a dark voice laugh and then utter, "Take off his blindfold."

Long claws ticked the back of Espio's neck before moving up to his head and ripping the thick cloth off. The sudden light startled the chameleon and he blinked rapidly to get rid of the dark spots in his vision. With everything now in focus Espio attempted to look around and study the situation as the clawed creature grabbed his harness and yanked him into an upright position. Espio's heart skipped a beat when he saw all of the strange creatures that surrounded him, as well as a black and ice blue hedgehog - Mephiles, Espio was pretty sure his name was due to the news reports. On the outside Espio stayed calm, but inside already his adrenaline was kicking in and telling him to get ready to fight.

"Now, now, don't be naughty Espio." The chameleon definitely did _not _like the way Mephiles pronounced that sentence, "You're just a test subject. Just lie back, relax and it'll all be over soon…" Espio growled through the gag, and then gasped slightly as he was picked up by his harness straps. The monster that held him now was a Cyclops, with its yellowed skin puffed up; pus leaking from a few wounds. Espio struggled against the straps as he was carried like a handbag down a long metal hallway. No other monsters followed.

"Did you enjoy the ride, Espio? Quite an interesting trip, I'm sure. Hard to find your way back here if you couldn't see where you were going." Mephiles led the way into an elevator and hit the button for the bottom floor, "With that tunnel now blocked up and set with traps, it'll be difficult for someone to get in again."

"_Tunnel? What tunnel? Is there another entrance here that somebody got into? Not very smart on this guy's part…"_ Espio thought, twisting in the straps that held him. The rough material scraped against his skin, leaving stinging red welts as the top layer of skin was slowly grated off.

When the elevator doors opened Mephiles led the Cyclops and Espio around a tall metal tower, down another hallway and then into some sort of workshop. The strange hedgehog headed straight to an odd machine sort of like a teapot, typed some sort of code into a keypad and walked inside. The Cyclops dropped Espio inside at Mephiles' feet before simply turning and leaving with a grunt. The door then shut, leaving the chameleon trapped with Mephiles. Espio was again grabbed by his harness and yanked to a sitting position. The wall behind the two began to slide to the side, allowing them to enter a different room. The door shut behind them again.

"_What's the point of hiding all of this?" _Espio thought, looking over his shoulder as Mephiles dragged him into the room. This room was quite large; about the size of a high school gym except with a lower ceiling - only about twenty feet. But instead of painted lines symbolizing foul lines and boundaries for sports there were little sets against all the walls around the room, looking like scenes for a play. Espio stared in confusion at the small kitchen, living room, bathroom and multiple bedrooms, each separated by a small partition. A few more flashy stage sets, such as a back garden and beach, were also set up. The scenes were so well done Espio half expected life-sized dolls to walk in and begin having a tea party.

"Right, I'll just set you right here…" Mephiles dragged Espio in front of the dungeon set while snapping his fingers, "Sonic, get out here, will you?"

"_Sonic?"_ Espio made a small noise in surprise, interrupting his current train of thought about the idea that being carried around was actually much better that being dragged like a child's toy, _"What's he doing here?"_

A door opened at the far right end of the room, and Espio stared in shock at a ruffled, dirty blue hedgehog slowly making his way over the darker hedgehog. Sonic had his head down and his ears were pressed against his skull in submission. The chameleon couldn't believe it; Sonic the Hedgehog, bowing to this madman, this evil overlord without a touch of fight in him. It wasn't possible - it just couldn't be real. Espio almost bought it, at least until he heard Sonic speak.

"You called, Master?" The voice was incredibly close to Sonic's, but had a slight electric tone to it. Espio's eyes narrowed at the sound, now doubting the authenticity of this hedgehog.

Mephiles growled at Sonic, "What did I say about talking?" The blue hedgehog whimpered in fear, and Mephiles then looked at Espio, "Seems you've already guessed that this isn't the real Sonic, hmm?" Espio nodded, wondering what Mephiles was up to. "Doesn't matter. If this works, you won't have to believe he's real anyways."

The sound of gears grinding together made Espio look to the center of the room. A large, square machine with a ten-foot monitor was rising from the floor, along with a large metal chair. Mephiles dragged Espio to this chair and with a single hand lifted the chameleon into the seat. A thick leather belt was wrapped around Espio's waist and tightened so close that Espio had trouble breathing. The fake Sonic was ordered to come around and hold one of Espio's hands while Mephiles untied the chameleon's wrists and strapped them to the chair. The chameleon's ankles were trapped in a similar manner, nearly cutting off his blood circulation. Once the fake Sonic touched Espio's arm, he felt cool metal instead of cloth and easily recognized that this was a robot. But why bother making one?

"Not much more," Mephiles said, wrapping another thick leather strap around Espio's neck, "You gotta keep looking at the little scene in front of you. I can't have you turning away." At least this strap wasn't too tight. Finally two metal plates came down from the ceiling on a long metal arm. They were placed on either side of Espio's head and pressed against his temples, effectively keeping the chameleon looking forward. A number of suction cups also attached themselves to various parts of Espio's head.

"There we go," Mephiles said, stepping back and looking over the chameleon in satisfaction, "This shall do nicely." He then turned to the robot Sonic, "Get started."

The blue hedgehog sadly nodded, opening a wooden chest against one of the walls while Mephiles went behind the Espio to the computer. All of the lights in the room shut off save for the ones that lit up the scene before Espio and the dull glow from the screen behind. After slowly laying multiple odd devices on a wooden table the fake Sonic walked off of the set and towards Mephiles.

Espio strained to hear what Mephiles was saying to the robot, but the words were too muffled for him to pick out. Instead he was forced to study the strange set before him. This stone dungeon was no more than fifteen feet in both length and width; a perfect square. Against the left wall were the small wooden chest and one wooden table; closer to the back but not quite touching the wall was a larger wooden table. A pair of metal cuffs was attached to the right stone wall, obviously meant for holding prisoners. The walls looked like they had actually been constructed from real stone, but it seemed ridiculous to go to such trouble.

"Right," Mephiles hissed, placing a hand on Espio's left shoulder, "Bring the first one in!"

There was a slight shuffling sound, and then from Espio's right came Knuckles and Shadow, holding onto Charmy's small arms. All three were dirty and exhausted, having no fight in their dull eyes. While the elder two were silent, the little bee was sobbing quietly and let out a small cry when the other two tossed him to the floor.

"_Charmy!"_ Espio cried out in his mind, and just as quickly reminded himself, _"No, he's just a robot like all of the others. The real one isn't here. Everything's fine."_

"Right now you don't care what happens…" Mephiles chuckled while lifting the robotic Charmy off of the ground by his wings, waving the other two robots away, "But you will be soon enough…oh, you will."

XXXXXXXXX

Blaze wasn't sure what she should do - scream, run, or simply burn the monster in front of her to a crisp. Certainly if the nightmare was anyone _other_ than Silver, Blaze wouldn't even consider the first two for a second. The cat scrambled to her feet while the hedgehog slowly stood as well.

"They got me pretty good, didn't they? Only took a few seconds before I was dead…" Silver rasped, his jaw flapping with every word, "I didn't even have a chance to fight."

"Stay away!" Blaze shouted, allowing her hands to be engulfed in flames, "Come any closer and I'll turn you to ashes!"

Silver slowly shook his head, his neck no longer fully attached to his skull and wobbling from side to side, looking almost ready to fall off, "It doesn't hurt, Blaze. It really doesn't. Just let them kill you, too." The psychic hedgehog took a few steps towards Blaze, "Join me, Blaze. We can be happy here together. We're friends after all, right?"

A cold wind blew and seemed to enter Blaze's head. Her heart began to pound as in her mind a voice whispered to her to join Silver; that he was right and everything would be ok. But with the monster of her former friend slowly shuffling towards her, Blaze paused in taking action to watch the nightmare. His organs were being dragged behind and left a bloody trail on the murky ground. The worms in Silver's skull continued to crawl around, unaware of their living host. With Silver's limbs barely attached to his body, he could move no faster than a two-legged sloth - Blaze could easily get away by crab-walking, let alone running. But the princess knew what had to be done - after all, there was no cure for zombification, or whatever the hell had happened to Silver. She ignored the odd feelings and made her decision

"_Go with him, Blaze. It's nice here. Death isn't bad. It's peaceful. It's not painful. It won't take long."_

"Sorry Silver," Blaze whispered, taking aim, "But this has to be done."

Two streams of fire shot from Blaze's hands, igniting the rotting corpse. Silver didn't seem to notice, continuing his slow plod over to her, even though chunks of fur and flesh began falling from his thin frame.

"_Noooooo…you can't destroy your chance at paradise. Sttttooooopppp…"_

"Why are you being _mean_, Blaze?" Silver hissed, his body becoming charcoal black; the maggots steaming as the heat killed them off, "I thought you were my _friend_. And friends don't burn each other alive…"

"You aren't alive!" Blaze shouted increasing the power of her flames as the thoughts in her head became more insistent, "You're dead!" Her own mind and the other voice battled for dominance; the strange whispery genderless voice insisting Silver was right while her own mind was forcing her to question why first Silver said he was dead, but now insisted he wasn't.

"_Go with him. Everything will be ok, Blaze. Go with him," _the voice continually whispered to princess.

"_Fuck you,"_ Blaze thought as a reply.

"_You're_ the one who's dead, Blaze. _I'm_ the one who's alive." Silver had dropped his severed arm, leaving the limb to turn to dust, "I want you to come with me."

Blaze stopped her attack, now watching the body of her best friend engulfed in fire and burning before her very eyes while battling the strange thoughts. The stench of burning flesh was so powerful by now that anybody who wasn't completely entranced by the scene before them would have been violently ill. The hedgehog continued on, wheezing his last words to his killer.

"_Paradise awaits you. Let Silver take you there - everything you could ever want is there. No pain. No suffering. The world in your hands. Silver and you can rule together, forever…"_

"Remember how hard we worked so you could do that?" Silver rasped, the hissing of his flesh almost covering up his words, "Summoning fire from the air and the passion in your heart…we worked on that _together_, Blaze. We make a good team…" Silver looked at his remaining hand, slowly burning away, "So why must you destroy me, my friend? We can train here together and be happy here." Silver tipped his head to the side; the fire having burned completely through the left side of his neck and allowing his head to dangle to the right, "You're throwing happiness away, Blaze. Stop all of this, for both of us. There is so much here for us."

"_There will be everything on the other side for you."_

"There is _nothing_ here or 'there', Silver. Not for you, not for me, not for anyone." Blaze spoke slowly as the remains of her friend began to disappear. Her will was too strong to bow down to such petty thoughts and hopes. She knew what lay beyond the grave if she died here - nothing. There was no paradise waiting. Blaze refused to listen to the pleading voice, slowly shook her head and sighed, "I'm sorry."

The voice then stopped insisting, and the cold wind blew again. Silver then began to change - his empty eye sockets still filled with worm corpses grew dark; blacker than black, if that was even possible. The hedgehog was no longer burning to pieces; instead the fire grew stronger as Silver began to control it. He began to grow in size, more than tripling his height in less than a second. The fire began swirling around the pair along with dark shadows, blocking any escape path Blaze once had. Ashes began blowing around in the fiery wind, and Blaze covered her eyes to keep the dust out. The world changed from white and murky to dark and empty, and Silver's lower half became hidden in a small fire tornado. The transformation occurred so fast the place had gone from purgatory to hell in under ten seconds. Blaze watched in shock as Silver began to yowl, the unearthly wails swirling around her with the fire. Silver's corpse continued to stay aflame, yet no longer burned away. Silver wasn't just dead - he was _possessed_.

"Damn you!" Silver roared, Blaze's ears instinctively folding against her head to block out some of the noise, "Why won't you break? Come with me!" Silver reached out his burning hand to the princess, "Obey me!"

"No!" Blaze shouted back, ashes swirling around the black ground and blinding her, "Get away!" She covered her face with her arms, attempting to stop the ashes from stinging her already sore eyes.

"I will have you! No one has ever escaped me! YOU ARE MINE!"

The wind was intense, sending ashes and shadows swirling all around the princess. The world around her had completely changed in seconds, scrambling Blaze's thoughts and plans for how to deal with the situation. The whole place was just chaos; pure chaos and nothing more.

All the better for the voice's arguments of a paradise just waiting once Blaze died. It had returned with a vengeance, pushing into her mind like a worm into the earth, getting deeper in with every second.

"Come now Blaze, with me…for us!" Silver lifted his remaining arm up, allowing the darkness to infest his body, "Look at my power - you can have such power! It's waiting for us!"

"_Please listen, Blaze. The madness will stop. There will be peace. Just let yourself go. Death isn't bad. It's so pleasant."_

"No!" Blaze screamed, both at Silver and at the voice, "No, no, no! Get out of my fucking head, get the fuck away from me, and leave me the fuck alone! I will die whenever I feel like it and not a moment sooner!"

The world continued to swirl in chaos; fire and darkness spinning faster and faster; the voice pleading for Blaze to get to the paradise. Blaze continued to fight the urge to obey, screaming out, "I don't believe you!"

Silver gasped, and the urge began to fade for a second before pushing again. Having realized the flaw, Blaze continued to cry out with all of her heart and soul, "I don't believe you! I don't believe you! I don't believe you!"

Blaze continued to shout the phrase at the top of her lungs, forcing the urge out of her head. The firestorm around her began to calm while Blaze recited, and once the world around her was still she cautiously removed her arms from her face and opened her eyes, relieved to see the cloudy world was now back, she was unharmed and there was a lack of zombie hedgehogs in the vicinity. Everything was back to normal, with 'normal' being the land of wet cotton and not drive-by climaxes.

"What…the fuck…" Blaze gasped, the ashes still stinging her throat, "What…is this…place…"

"You tell me," a familiar voice came from behind the princess. Acting purely on instinct, Blaze engulfed her fist in flames, whirled around and quickly smashed the speaker in the face.

XXXXXXXXX

It didn't take long to reach the end of the tunnel, and Shadow honestly wasn't too shocked by what he had found. Another machine of some sort or another, although this one made more sense to the black hedgehog - without a doubt, it was some sort of power generator; probably making power for Mephiles' base. Shadow scowled as he watched the gears go round and the energy bars flicker on the screen, showing the amount of power being generated. This small generator was either very convenient or worked with other generators to create enough power for the place.

"But why the hell would Mephiles even bother creating such a deep hole and allow us to get in?" Shadow muttered out loud, watching the status screen.

Black ears twitched as they heard a soft grunt. The area where Shadow had just been standing exploded as the small mine thrown had exploded on impact. The Ultimate Lifeform was simply too fast for such weapons and was completely unharmed, arms crossed and glaring at the right wall of the dirt tunnel. The dirt began to fall away as powerful arms clawed and smashed their way through the earth and rock, only pausing for a moment to reach for another grenade - a bad idea when up against someone with super speed.

A quick Spin Dash made the unknown target explode in a puff of dark sparkles, but Shadow could hear more monsters behind that one. A rumbling sound came from behind, and with a slight twist of his head Shadow noted that the monsters were coming from the other side as well.

"Of course," Shadow said, a slight smile creeping onto his face as he took a battle stance, "Should have listened to that damn Admiral."

XXXXXXXXX

"You can stop this at any time, Espio…" Mephiles said, smiling at the wide-eyed chameleon. The hedgehog twisted the pliers in his hand, twisting the young bee's wing as well. The robot Charmy screamed as the delicate film tore.

"Espio…make him stop, please…" Charmy begged, looking over at Espio and crying.

"_It's a robot, for hell's sake! How can it cry?"_ Espio took a deep breath, watching the scene playing out before him. Charmy's small wrists were strapped down onto the metal table with thick metal cuffs on three-link chains, allowing for a tiny bit of movement but not enough to really get anywhere. Mephiles had then spent the next fifteen minutes circling around the table and using various torture devices on the robotic Charmy.

If this was all being done on the real Charmy Espio would have been filled with rage and have done anything to break free. Even with the screams sounding perfectly like Charmy's did when he was scared and the whole scene looking like a true torture chamber, Espio kept himself calm by reminding himself that the real Charmy wasn't going through any of the horrors shown to him.

There was a loud rip, and Charmy shrieked in agony one final time before becoming strangely silent. Espio closed his eyes as he winced, and opened them to see Mephiles dangling one of Charmy's wings a few inches from his face.

"He won't be flying anytime soon," Mephiles remarked, chuckling darkly.

"_This is starting to get to me. I know it's not real, but I'm getting more uncomfortable with every passing moment. Why won't he just get to the point?"_

"Not too impressed, hmm? Let's see what the data says." Mephiles tossed the wing to the ground and walked behind Espio, who instead of being able to look behind him had to watch the robotic Shadow take the seemingly unconscious Charmy away.

"Seems that we're getting there," Mephiles remarked, coming back to Espio's side, "Ready for another round?" Obviously not expecting a reply, Mephiles snapped his fingers, and another robot walked in - Espio didn't even need two guesses to figure out who was next.

Vector looked just as dirty, exhausted and defeated as any of the other robots, but once again Espio knew that the crocodile _was_ just a robot. And as long as that was true, he really didn't give a damn no matter how realistic the torture was.

Mephiles wasn't concerned about Espio's seemingly uncaring attitude. It was the final product that mattered, after all. Mephiles carried on with using his creations, slowly twisting the robot Vector's thumbs in a thumbscrew, a wonderful invention from the Middle Ages. Sometimes the oldest methods were the best ones.

XXXXXXXXX

"Oh fuck," Silver moaned, rolling onto his stomach and then curling into a ball as hedgehogs do, "Fuck…" Silver's spines stretched out and became razor sharp, completely hiding Silver so he looked more like a white sea urchin than a hedgehog.

"Silver! Oh Silver, I'm so sorry!" Blaze knelt down next to the spiky ball, not quite sure whether to laugh or cry at the whole situation. Instead of the decaying Silver from before, the Silver she had punched out had been very much alive - and now very much in pain. Due to instinct Silver was now curled up and his quills had spread out, meaning that anybody who got too close would be cut to ribbons. Blaze had a bit of experience with getting hedgehogs to uncurl; after all if they stayed wrapped up so tight it would prevent anybody from helping them out.

Blaze placed her hand flat against the ground, making a small mental note to later question why the fog had thinned out quite a bit, leaving only a thin layer no more than a few centimeters high. "I'm sorry Silver, honestly. Just uncurl now, come on…" Blaze slid her hand along the ground and carefully underneath Silver's few spines that touched the ground. With her glove and sleeve protecting her arm from being severed (Blaze _really _didn't want to dwell on that thought) the princess managed to wriggle past Silver's curled up limbs and reach for his soft belly fur. Carefully the cat twisted her arm so her fingers were able to curl up and scratch the hedgehog's tummy.

"It's ok…come on, Silver…" Blaze continued to rub Silver's belly and whisper softly to him, and slowly the psychic hedgehog uncurled, sitting up straight as each individual spike fell back into his regular quill pattern and grew soft to the touch.

"That wasn't very nice Blaze," Silver sniffed, the heat from the intense flames causing his eyes to water, "Even if I did startle you a little."

Blaze let out a small laugh, happy to see Silver's golden eyes, even if they were filled with tears, in his sockets where they belonged, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you!" Silver let out a small cry of surprise as Blaze pulled him into a hug; his face still highly irritated from the fire punch and reacting badly from the contact.

"You're making my tears come out! Let me go!" Silver sat up again, now crying heavily as his burning eyes attempted to rid themselves of foreign matter and the heat.

"I'm just glad you're ok," Blaze sighed, giving Silver's shoulders a squeeze while Silver wiped his wet cheeks with his gloves, "And I'm so, so sorry I hit you."

"Yeesh, give me a little credit to be able to take care of myself!" Silver sobbed, "Why were you so edgy anyways?"

Blaze shook her head, "It's stupid, really."

"I think I deserve to know, considering I've just been punched in the face!"

"Alright, alright! I ran into your corpse, and your zombie self went psycho on me. Happy?"

"What?" Silver's eyes were cooling down, so only a few tears were falling when he looked at Blaze, "I never died, though. I never even got hurt except by you. I'm right here!"

"I know you are," Blaze replied, reaching into a pocket on the inside of her jacket and handing Silver a handkerchief, "But it scared me half to death anyways. And blow your nose - you're starting to drip."

"That would be your fault," Silver said with a touch of annoyance, but he used the handkerchief anyways. "Actually, to say the least you're not the only one who saw some crazy stuff. This whole time someone - or something - that looked exactly like you has been chasing me around, like your zombie."

"What? Another Blaze?"

"Yep - and I thought it was you at first. But I knew something wasn't right because you were shaking and stuttering, and talking about how the only way to escape from here was to kill myself. When I tried to touch you, my hand went through - like you were a ghost."

"I'd really prefer a ghost over…over that image! Your guts were spilling everywhere and those maggots…" Blaze rubbed Silver's arms, relieved to feel the thickness of the fur and muscles instead of rotted tissue, "You are the real Silver, right? No tricks?"

Silver nodded, "And since you don't have sunken eyes, a raspy voice and aren't trying to rip my throat out I think you're the real Blaze."

"Good. If I have to be trapped forever in this cotton ball hell I'd rather be here with you."

The psychic hedgehog let out a small laugh at that, "Just where I've always wanted to be." With that, Silver leaned on his hands but instead of staying upright fell over backwards with a shout.

Blaze looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes, "Oh come on Silver; I didn't hit you that hard!"

With a gasp, Silver flipped onto his hands and knees and began crawling into the fog, only pausing for a second to say, "Blaze, come on! You have to see this!"

XXXXXXXXX

"Perhaps I should amputate instead?" Mephiles asked the two Chaotix members, picking up a wood saw from the table at the side. Vector was chained to the table by four large metal cuffs wrapped around his wrists and ankles. Already Mephiles had done one body part removal, having scraped a number of scales from the crocodile's stomach. But now the hedgehog looked ready to cut off an actual limb - although Espio doubted a wood saw could slice through metal.

With the sharp tool poised just above Vector's right arm, the crocodile began whimpering as Mephiles glanced at Espio's indifference. "Not caring so much, are you?" Espio simply blinked in response. As much as the torture in front of him was quite realistic, to Espio it was still the equivalent of a child ripping apart their teddy bear - they may be destroying something, but it really didn't hurt you or the child.

Mephiles dropped the saw next to the shivering crocodile and walked over to Espio, bending slightly down to stare with soulless eyes into Espio's calmed yellow ones. "I suppose there's no reason to keep the inevitable from happening," Mephiles chuckled, straightening up and snapping his fingers. The scene in front of Espio went dark and the robotic Vector was silent, while a spotlight from above shone down on the chameleon and his captor. With the whole room pitch black except for the small circle cast by the bright light, Espio was actually starting to wonder if this was all an elaborate play.

The sound of gears turning and a fan starting up came from behind, loud enough to block out whispers but not too strong to prevent normal speech from being easily heard. The robotic Sonic walked up to Mephiles, holding a red glass jar. Mephiles opened the lid and grabbed one of the objects inside, motioning for Sonic to step away.

"If pain on your friends won't make you get there," Mephiles said slowly, revealing a small orange habanero pepper, "Perhaps I'll have to, shall we say, _force_ you to get there?"

"_Get where? What's he talking about?"_ Espio thought, just as Mephiles snapped the pepper in half. The hot juices of the pepper leaked onto Mephiles' fingertips, and the hedgehog chuckled softly as he pressed one of the pieces against Espio's groin. The chameleon jumped in surprise; with his legs bound to the chair legs he was left without any means of defense against the wet insides of the hot pepper rubbing too close to a certain area for Espio's comfort. Espio could barely even move his hips, and his tail couldn't reach around to strike Mephiles away. He was in trouble.

Mephiles squeezed the pepper, letting some of the juice trickle out. The small streams made their way down Espio's lower half and onto his legs…but one particular drop had found a hidden slit. Espio let out a muffled cry as a small part of the juice slipped inside his pouch, burning his sensitive inner walls. The pain only grew worse as Mephiles easily located the slit and pushed the pepper inside. The power of the fruit made Espio's body react violently, as he twisted and thrust his hips, trying to remove the source of his pain. Mephiles just chuckled and pushed both halves of the pepper completely inside of Espio before stepping back and watching the show.

The fire burned so powerfully against his sensitive skin that Espio wasn't sure he could take much more. A flaming stick pushed inside couldn't have been worse. The juice inside the pepper leaked further down, each igniting another stream of fire inside Espio's body. The chameleon was starting to shake with desperation; he had to get that pepper out or he would go insane!

"Shall I remove it?" Mephiles asked after the torture had gone on for a few minutes. Espio attempted to nod, the leather strap around his neck holding him in place so his head barely moved. Mephiles shrugged and stepped forward, forcefully reaching inside Espio's pouch with two fingers and removing the pieces. Espio let out a soft sigh of relief; the pain was still strong, but at least the source had been removed.

"That should do it," Mephiles said, tossing the pepper to the side as Espio attempted to control his ragged breathing. "Although…why not add some more for extra?" Mephiles snapped his fingers once again, and a sharp knife was placed into his palm by the robot Sonic.

Espio's eyes were strained as they attempted to follow the sharp blade. Mephiles casually let the tip touch Espio's chest, lightly dragging the knife to Espio's arm and then down his hand. "You don't really need these, do you?" Mephiles asked, casually tapping Espio's fingers, "Mind if I cut them off?" The hedgehog began putting pressure on the blade.

"_Yes!"_ Espio screamed in his head, curling his fingers up. This guy was insane - there was no telling what he'd do! Mephiles laughed.

"What about here?" Mephiles said, moving the blade to Espio's stomach, "Ever wondered what your inner organs looked like?"

"_No!"_ Espio unconsciously pressed his back against the chair, trying to get away from the knife.

"Or better yet," Mephiles continued, pressing the knife against Espio's throat, "Would you like to see what happens when you die?"

There was a sharp pain, and then Espio's world went dark.

XXXXXXXXX

Espio soon gained consciousness again, although his tired eyes tried to shut the world out. He slowly managed to open them, although it made little difference in the dark room. The world was spinning around as Espio pushed himself to his hands and knees, the burning sensation from his last torture session still present in his groin. They had really hurt him last time - he really should have been more obedient…

"Es…Espio…" a little voice whimpered, and the chameleon looked around for the source. His eyes blinked open slowly, and he acknowledged the now unfortunately familiar surroundings - the small metal cage he had been placed in, lined with itchy straw, damp from his blood and saliva. Other cages, almost identical to his, surrounded the room and were piled high; almost every one filled with a hurt, crying being. Monsters stalked around the room, some like jackals or wolf-men; others like giant fireflies or deformed humans with bodily fluids leaking out onto the floor. Every so often they kicked or growled at one of the captives, and seemed to actually laugh when the prisoner screamed in fear.

"Espio…"

"Charmy…" Espio whispered, recognizing the voice, his aching eyes peering around the room, "Where are you?"

"Here," Charmy whimpered back, and Espio looked up to see Charmy in the cage to the right of his, "They…they…"

"They what?" Espio asked, crawling towards the young bee. The cages they both were in were so small neither could stand up, although there was enough room lengthwise to lie down. Yet crawling across the damp straw seemed to take weeks due to Espio's exhaustion.

Wails and sobbing were coming from every corner of the large dark room, but there was only one cry in particular Espio cared about. Fighting waves of dizziness and exhaustion, he made it over to the side where Charmy's cage was and reached his hand through the bars, trying to touch his young friend. He knew the pain everyone was going through all too well. They had been trapped here for weeks; them and so many others, tortured almost every day, so little food and water…and there was no end in sight. There was no end to their captors' cruelties, so anything could have happened to the honey bee. "Charmy, what happened?" Espio whispered through his dry lips, "What have they done?"

"They…they…" the sick, weak Charmy looked up at Espio, tears streaming down his grimy, hollowed cheeks, "They ripped out my wings!"

XXXXXXXXX

Espio let out a cry, as his gag had been removed so Mephiles could study Espio's responses. The combination of confusion, shock and pain had sent Espio tumbling down into a dark corner of his mind, which was highly influenced by recent events.

"Mm…" Mephiles thought to himself, studying Espio's brain patterns on the computer screen, "This is working nicely…but I want to keep him on his two best friends right now until I know this is programmed correctly. How about a little more pain down below, hm?"

A few quick commands and the unconscious Espio shrieked as his brain registered the feeling. His body jerked around and his brain went haywire, attempting to sort out reality and fantasy and completely unable to distinguish either.

"A little different from normal," Mephiles said coolly, watching the screens as they displayed different readings. Most people accepted the new world as one hundred percent real, but Espio seemed to highly doubt it. Unable to be completely certain his mind instead decided to say 'Fuck it!' and not acknowledge anything as real or fake. Which meant that this plan might not work quite as well as Mephiles wanted.

"Hmm…he won't be asleep too long, and I don't want to waste this energy…" Mephiles got up and paced, the robot Sonic silently watching and the unconscious chameleon growling in the background. After a few seconds of pacing, Mephiles walked towards the Sonic robot and looked up; a grin grew on his face. "Yes…that's perfect!" Mephiles chuckled, rushing over to the computer. He opened a clear window on the screen and began typing away. It didn't take long to get the first part of the scene; he could make up more as it played out anyways. Mephiles then began channeling power back to his base, using the generators he had installed underground to pull in the power of dark thoughts from Espio and all of the creatures nearby.

"_Odd; I seem to be getting quite a bit of mental energy from down there. Either those foolish soldiers are congregating around one generator or somebody is holding in a lot of anger. Ah, no worries - they won't even know I'm taking it from them!"_

Everything went smoothly, from channeling the power to the scene so he could send it right down to locating his peacefully slumbering target. Mephiles chuckled as he did one final look over before sending out the signal; if this worked out then the possibilities of what he could do would be endless!

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic let out a soft moan as he pulled himself to a sitting position. The last thing he could remember was lying in bed, rolling over onto his tummy, a sharp pain exploding on the back of his head…and then nothing. Now he was somewhere else entirely, and it wasn't familiar at all.

The blue hedgehog sat up and scanned the area. Somebody had trapped him in a cramped metal cage and left him in the center a fairly dark room all alone. The room and cage were tiny; the room being no more than twelve feet across and the cage about three feet. With the cage only two feet high Sonic was unable to stand and instead resorted to sitting on the cold metal floor. The only light came from a dim bulb overhead, and there was a thick metal door to his left. Sonic growled; that somebody who had locked him in here had a thing or two coming when Sonic broke free - hell, all he had to do was use a Spin Dash against the bars and then the door. He was able to cut through powerful mechanical beasts with that move - these one-inch thick bars were toast!

Not wanting to waste any time Sonic tried to get moving, but surprisingly found himself unable to do anything but curl into the spiky ball that was common for his species. Again and again, he tried to make himself spin faster, but all he did was roll a bit around the cage. He couldn't believe it. His Spin Dash wasn't working!

"Am I broken?" Sonic joked, uncurling and looking over his body. He was a little nervous now, wondering why his body wouldn't respond to such a common command he gave it. He couldn't see or feel anything wrong - his quills were in the right place, his feet didn't hurt, there was plenty of room to move…and then he looked at his left ankle.

The hero let out a startled cry and pulled his left leg closer so he could inspect it. "No!" Sonic cried out, gripping his ankle, "It can't be!" Once again, just like all those months ago, around his ankle was a glowing metal cuff, glinting back at him with an evil shine. With that on, all of super powers were gone. Now Sonic was really concerned.

"Hey! Who did this to me!" Sonic called out, feeling his heart pounding in his chest; afraid of what the answer might be. _"Please, please don't let it be him!"_

The reply was almost instant. "It's about time you woke up, hedgehog." The door to the room began to slide open.

Sonic knew that voice all too well - after all, it had been cursing at him for seven years now. The blue hedgehog turned to face the scientist who had been the cause of a lot of trouble (and fun, Sonic had to admit) for him for so long. "Eggman!" Sonic growled as soon as the scientist entered the room, "What's the meaning of this?"

"What do you think, Sonic?" Eggman said calmly, stepping closer towards Sonic's prison, "When has this happened to you before?"

The blue hero's face went unnaturally pale. He hadn't panicked at the sight of Eggman since he was ten and first starting out on the whole hero business. Now his heart was beating as if he was running Mach Seven, his throat went dry and he could feel himself beginning to sweat. "Did…did…um…" Sonic gulped, "Did Mephiles….?"

"Mephiles offered me freedom from you as long as I caught you," Eggman said in the same calm voice, walking towards the door of the cage, "He also told me what he planned on doing with you."

"He did?" Sonic replied, almost a normal tone although his voice was a little too squeaky for his liking.

"He did," Eggman confirmed, inserting a key into the door.

"Does that mean you…agreed to his offer?" Sonic gulped as the door began to open.

"Well, sort of," Eggman replied. He reached inside the small cage, and with no powers and nowhere to run the doctor grabbed Sonic's wrist and yanked the hedgehog out.

"What do you mean by 'sort of'?" Sonic asked as Eggman placed him on the floor and then began pulling him away from the cage. The scientist tugged him to the metal door, which opened into a short hallway with two doors and lit by five dim lights. It took Eggman only five steps to reach the end and one of the doors; for Sonic it would have been double that many steps if he wasn't being dragged.

"I agreed to give you to him," Eggman said slowly before turning to face Sonic. Sonic shuddered underneath Eggman's gaze…something wasn't right here. The scientist's face was twisted in a cruel and dark manner with a sharp-toothed grin. Eggman's dark glasses sparkled in the dim overhead lights, yet Sonic could tell that behind those glasses the doctor's eyes were just as dark and cold. When something went right for Eggman, he gleefully relished in his evilness, ok fine whatever, but this…wasn't right at all. Sonic didn't like it. He _knew_ something bad was going to happen - his heart and brain were screaming at him to run away but his body just wouldn't obey, frozen beneath that dark glare.

Eggman chuckled at Sonic's worried face and typed in a code to open the door. "I agreed to give you to him," Eggman repeated as the door slid to the side to reveal a room containing only two objects: a wooden chest and a large, king-sized bed, "As long as I got to have my way with you first."

_**I am very proud to have given everyone their nightmare for the next week. Certainly the computer has been a nightmare for me. Believe it or not, I had finished this weeks ago. "Why didn't you post then?" you ask? Because the stupid computer went ahead and deleted my files before I had a chance to post or back them up. FFFFFFF-!**_

_**Since then I haven't been able to get myself to type out everything all over again, but finally I told myself to suck it up, sat down and wrote. Well, it's done! Again! Yippee! **_


	13. Influence

Sonic could have easily expected multiple things to have been behind that door. Some strange machine designed to turn him into a were-creature. A giant ray gun created to blow up the planet and half the moon. Even break dancing, pink polka-dotted elephants all named 'German Andy'.

Anything but _this_.

The blue hedgehog shuddered, but managed to keep somewhat calm, "Funny, Egghead. Seriously though, what are you really doing with me?"

"I told you already," Eggman chuckled, dragging the blue hedgehog inside, "I'm going to bend you over that bed and fuck you."

"No. No you're not." Eggman raised an eyebrow as Sonic looked at him, "I've fought with you a hundred times, and you've even managed to catch me once or twice. You've never shown any sign that you wanted to do this with me. I'm not buying it. Something's not right here. Are you even…" Sonic paused for a moment trying to see behind those dark glasses, "Are you real?"

Eggman was shocked for a second at the comment, but then quickly regained his composure, "Of course I'm real you blue idiot!"

"Then what's with the sudden lust, Egghead?" Sonic's heart was pumping like crazy, but he was calm enough to get through to Eggman. Something was off about this whole situation, and he was going to get to the bottom of it. "Come on - you're not sexually attracted to me at all. Why would you be? You're an old, fat crazy human and I'm a young, slim crazy hedgehog. We're nothing alike. There's no love here! So tell me the truth - what's up with this?"

Eggman stared at Sonic for a minute, and then burst out laughing, "Seriously? You thought that _I_ was _in love_ with _you_? That's a riot!"

Sonic frowned, "Then what do you want, Eggman?"

The scientist grinned again; twisting Sonic around the blue hedgehog was in front and facing him. Eggman chuckled at Sonic's puzzled look and said, "You think sex is just for lust, Sonic? No! It's control I'm after here!"

"Say what?"

Eggman took a few steps forward, forcing Sonic to step back until his legs were pushed against the plush mattress on the bed. "I've heard all about how Mephiles made Wario fuck you. While you kept it all secret you were under his complete control."

"That's only because he took my powers away - and I'll never keep silent again!" Sonic growled and twisted, but Eggman only gripped his wrists tighter. "Even if I do end up spreading my legs for you, that's not going to stop me from taking you out!"

"Oh, then I suppose your cute little lover will run in and bash me over the head with a hammer, hmm? Do you think anybody wants to be with you forever, you little slut? They're with you for the same reason I have you now - to control you. Getting that power of yours under my control will be much more profitable than killing you. A couple of fuckings and you'll be weak again…or…" Eggman chuckled again, "What about Tails?"

"You sick fuck! He's not even a teenager! Stay away from him or I swear to the skies I'll rip out your heart!" Sonic was absolutely furious that the fat bastard would even suggest such a thing! A quick twist of his neck and Sonic was able to bury his teeth into Eggman's wrist. With a cry, Eggman let go, and Sonic kicked the scientist in the shin before scrambling to the door.

The door slammed shut before Sonic's eyes, and he pounded on it uselessly, hoping that it would open up. Nothing happened, and in two seconds Eggman held Sonic in his grip again.

"You'll pay for that, and every other miserable thing you've done to me in your life!" Sonic raised his quills, twisting and struggling to either bite or scratch his way to freedom, but with no powers even the overweight Eggman could hold him down. Sonic was quickly dragged over to the bed and flipped so he was face-down against the blankets, his hips on the edge of the mattress and his legs hanging down the sides. Eggman shifted his grip to Sonic's waist and shoved Sonic's legs apart, pressing himself against Sonic's quivering body.

"You will bow to me, Sonic. I will have you screaming mercy!" Eggman snarled from behind, and Sonic winced when he heard the rustling of clothing and then felt bare skin against his backside.

"I'll kill you for this. Give me just one chance and I'll kill you…" Sonic grunted, bracing himself for the pain.

It had been months since Sonic had been split open like this, but he clearly remembered the pain from before. It started as a sudden shock at the base of his tail, and then as the perpetrator pushed in further the pain would quickly spread to every part of his body, sharp blows worse than gun shots. The lightning pain would spread and attack every nerve during the ordeal, but down below his hips and backside would be under so much pressure that he'd feel like they'd explode at any moment. Then there would be short relief as the dominator withdrew, and then it would all come back the moment they slammed in again. It would continue anywhere from a few minutes to fifteen, depending whether or not the position switched or if they came early. Depending on the roughness, either he would bleed and the lubrication would help a little with the pain, although it made sitting down later a dozen times worse; or he wouldn't and he would be able to feel the semen being shot into his rear, and then that feeling would be there all day, making looking someone in the eye difficult than usual.

He knew it all too well. After all, he had gone through it over a dozen times. And here it was about to happen again. Sonic let out a cry as he felt Eggman's hips pull back, and something prod him beneath his tail. He was screaming in his mind, but wasn't going to give Eggman the satisfaction. The pain was coming, it was coming, and…

X

"For Chaos' sake Sonic, WAKE UP!"

Sonic tumbled to the floor with a cry, slamming his head on the bedpost on the way down. The blue hedgehog rolled over panting heavily and covered with sweat, shaking. A sleepy blue-eyed two-tailed fox stood over him and asked in a softer voice, "Are…are you ok?"

"Tails? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Who?"

"Eggman! Did he touch you?"

"Eggman? I haven't seen him in weeks. Is that what your dream was about?"

"Dream?" Sonic sat up and looked around the room - his bedroom, and not in some other unmentionable place - and he checked his ankle. No anklet. "It was a dream?"

"A bad one, of course."

"How did you know that I was having a bad dream?"

"Because you were screaming like you were being _murdered_ in here! You scared the life out of me!" Tails voice softened as he looked at his older brother, "You've never had a nightmare that bad before. Maybe you should go see Dr. Nam again."

Sonic shrugged, "Maybe." The hedgehog pulled himself onto his bed, rubbing his eyes and attempted to erase the images from his mind, "I can't remember the last time I've felt so frightened," Sonic said as Tails sat down beside him, patting his shoulder, "I wonder what could have possibly caused so much fear in me?"

XXXXXXXXX

The screen went blank, and Mephiles sighed. Somebody must have awakened Sonic, which meant that there wasn't much point in continuing. Besides, Espio would awaken soon, and then the chameleon would really be ticked off.

A quick snap of his fingers, and the same wolf-man that had brought Espio here came into the room. After freeing the chameleon, Mephiles ordered the creature to drop Espio off somewhere far from his base. The wolf-man started off, and Mephiles looked back at his screens. Whoever it was down below, he had to thank them for loaning him their anger. If every person on this planet had even a tenth of the rage this one guy he had, Mephiles was set in terms of energy.

XXXXXXXXX

It took less than a minute for Shadow to destroy all of the monsters. Watching with slight satisfaction as the monsters burst into dark sparkles, Shadow turned back to look at the machine again. Should he destroy it? Study it? Ignore it entirely? No, fuck the last one.

"Stupid, stupid hedgehog…" Shadow's ears perked as he heard voices from down the tunnel he had originally come from, "If Gerald disciplined him more when he was younger, then there wouldn't be this problem…"

"I heard that!" Shadow called back, "And don't you dare act as though you've been perfect in following orders." Shadow had to chuckle when he heard the soldier who had been speaking stutter. A small band of soldiers came down the tunnel, and with the pale face it was quite easy to tell which one had been speaking before.

"Oh, just can it," another soldier said, "There's no need to start a fight here. We're just here to collect him." She then turned to Shadow, "The Commander's really pissed that you jumped down here. You'd better return to the surface soon or you'll face his wrath."

Shadow shrugged, "Whatever. I'm finished here. Watch for traps - I've already sprung one." With that, Shadow quickly skated down a different tunnel, as currently he had no plans to return to the surface.

At another intersection, Shadow paused to think about his options. It was then he realized something was amiss - he wasn't angry. Usually he was bitter about one thing or another, keeping it inside so he appeared almost apathetic to everything around him, but now there was nothing there. Instead of a volcano that could erupt at any moment he was simply…calm. It was rare that he felt like this, and when he tried to call upon his anger he found that he couldn't summon even the slightest bit.

"That's too bad," Shadow muttered, deciding on the left tunnel, "I'd like to be able to bring some anger when I need it. Makes it easier to fight, sometimes."

XXXXXXXXX

"I don't understand what could be so interesting…" Blaze said, crawling after Silver. After coming through the fog, Blaze whispered, "Oh." She scrambled to her feet and stood beside Silver, who was also looking at the sight before them.

In the middle of the fog of confusion was a patch of soft green grass, about twenty feet across all ways and surrounded by a foot-high wall, made of solid gold. A small cobblestone path ran from the gate in the wall to a large marble fountain in the center. The soft blue water magically swirled around a marble column ten feet high in the center, as if being sucked through an invisible pipe, before cascading at the top down towards the pond and lapping softly at the walls of the base. Flowers of every kind grew everywhere, nearly hiding the grass, and the scents of the flowers was strong. A woman with golden hair, dressed in a simple blue dress and wearing a silver scarf around her shoulders was sitting on the edge of the water. She had thin silver anklets around both ankle and matching ones on her wrists. Her bare feet were only an inch above the ground, and leaning on her hands she stared lovingly at the water fountain.

"Do we say something?" Blaze whispered to Silver, who shrugged in response.

"Come on in, little ones. You have nothing to fear now." Both cat and hedgehog jumped as the woman spoke, her voice as soft as the flower petals around her, "Come sit with me by the fountain."

Silver seemed a little nervous to go, but Blaze decided to head on in. After seeing Blaze walk up with nothing go wrong, Silver caught up and they walked to the fountain together. Blaze sat down to the left of the woman, with Silver sitting on Blaze's left.

The woman turned to look at her guests, smiling with soft green eyes, "I know you must be concerned about what has been happening to you here."

"Well, yeah, of course," Silver said, "Who wouldn't be?"

"Come now, it is alright. This place is safe from the insanity outside the walls." The woman gestured to the fog, "In that fog, your mind plays tricks on you. That is when it creates images to try and understand what is happening."

"That still doesn't explain where we are," Silver said, crossing his arms.

"Ah, but of course you would wish to know. Well, you are still in the remains of the ruins you found before. It is only your minds and spirits that have left your bodies."

"Does that mean we're…ghosts?" Blaze asked, eyes going wide.

The woman laughed softly, "No, child, you are not dead. Your spirit has simply left your earthly body to explore different places."

"Sorry, but I'm not following you here at all," Silver sighed, "Don't you have a better explanation?"

"Of course." The woman gestured to the water in the fountain, "The mind is a wonderful source all of things. A creative spark is what has changed many cultures or turned the tides of wars. Someone who is creative can think of so many different things and create worlds and ideas where anything is possible. Unlike an earthly body, the mind's power is limitless!"

"Alright…so, your point is?"

The woman's eyes sparkled, "Imagine, just for an instant, you could _control_ that power."

"Huh?"

"Think about it this way. Just by thinking of something, you could make it appear. By getting into someone's mind, you could control their thoughts. By transferring someone's darkest or most triumphant moments into energy…you would have enough power to take over a world."

"That would be…interesting, and a little boring," Blaze replied.

The woman sighed, "Yes, it would…but some people would like it that way."

"For themselves, right?" The woman nodded. "Makes sense to me. If I was evil, that would be awesome."

"Of course…" The woman looked around the garden, "Many cultures attempt to discover a way into the mind, dreams in particular. And many people speak about if they could have one wish, and what they would do. My own culture wanted this so badly that we found a way to break the ties between the madness in the mind and the reality of the world, combining them and making a new place where both collided."

"You did? Where?"

"You are in that world right now."

Blaze and Silver looked around, and then Silver said, "The fog?"

"That is what remains of what we created. This garden is what I have managed to keep under control."

"Ok, I'm so, so confused. You're talking all over the place and I don't get it!"

The woman sighed, "You remember the demons that attacked you? You created them, by accident. Originally this state of mind was kept for ideas to help others, but eventually, it became for hurting others. Out there in that fog, anyone who sets foot has a nightmare of theirs come true. Both of you were afraid the other was injured or worse and the fog took that thought and made it into reality. This place is both a state of mind and a different realm entirely."

"Makes sense, I guess. So basically we sent ourselves on a strange acid trip," Silver whispered to Blaze.

"I'm pretty sure we're still on it," Blaze replied.

"Now, look at each other, and think of five ways you could make the other happy. Now think of five ways you could kill the other. Easy, was it not?" Blaze and Silver nodded. "That is the power that is available here. Regardless of how illogical the thought is, in your mind, it can work. A world based with no logic at all is a dangerous place. But my own people did not care. They wanted control so badly that everyone was destroyed. I was the last, and I destroyed the cities of my people and scattered the ruins around, using this state of mind, this world, so it would be near impossible for anyone to come to this place again."

"Why is this all so dangerous?" Silver asked.

"Think, child. I am sure you have heard of dreams coming true, correct? But now imagine someone's wildest, most illogical dream coming true - whether it be marrying a movie star, becoming a rock band legend, or taking over the world."

"So what you're saying is that here you can take the power of someone's imagination and bring it to life in the real world?" The woman nodded. "Creepy."

The woman sighed, "And that is exactly what Mephiles the Dark has done."

Blaze and Silver exchanged glances. "Say what?" Silver gasped.

"He couldn't possibly have - if he's got all this power, why doesn't he just wish for all of us gone and the universe his?" Blaze asked.

"Mephiles does not have full control. In fact, he has very little. Of current it is enough to bring nightmares into reality - say, if someone dreamed of a psychotic killer chasing them, Mephiles can create an incarnation of that fear into the world. He can control the creature he has summoned, but he requires a lot of power to do so. He has been absorbing the thoughts of others and using the powerful emotions they cause to provide the energy to keep his project going. After all, dreams are directly influenced by one's feelings."

"How did he get these powers in the first place?" Silver asked.

"The same way as you got into this world - accidentally stumbling upon one of the ruins of my people. However, he recognized what he had found and planned to get some power. He managed to create a small hole, enough to draw out some power, but not so much that he is unstoppable. He seems to understand that he could not possibly control such strength and has decided to work with what he has."

"Does he have the ability to get into our minds?" Blaze asked next.

"Yes, but only when you are asleep, and you will understand that something is wrong. You can push him away. The only way he can take over your mind is with illusions, and those are from spell books and can easily be reversed. He is not strong enough to control you with the power from here, and I doubt he ever will be. If he becomes corrupted with the power from this place, all hell will break loose. He would have to be completely mad to attempt to control everything."

"Knowing Mephiles, I'm sure he'd try," Blaze said, rolling her eyes.

"So if he can get in our heads, then he can find out what we're scared of, and use that against us!" Silver jumped up, "Blaze, we've got to get back and warn everyone. Think of poor Sonic, and what Mephiles could do to mess with his head. Or Shadow, with his difficult past, or…anyone! This is bad!"

"I know, but what can we do about it? How do we stop Mephiles?" Blaze asked.

The woman nodded, "Remember, all of the creatures he has come from imagination. They are not real, so do not hold back. Destroy them, and the energy will be returned here. I can then attempt to trap the energy in this realm to weaken Mephiles, but it may not be enough. The other thing to remember is if something very strange begins to happen, take a step back and think. Chances are Mephiles is trying to confuse you, and once your mind begins spawning tricks to fix things he will take your ideas and use them against you. All he has to do is guide you in the way he wants and your mind will take off on its own. You cannot be your own worst enemy, otherwise you will be falling a long ways down."

"Ok, I get it. So…how do we get back?" Blaze asked.

"Just look into the fountain, yes, like that. Let the beauty of the water rush around you, and let yourself disappear. Do not sit up too quickly when you arrive back, otherwise you will be sick. Now goodbye, and good luck."

XXXXXXXXX

After returning back to earth, Blaze and Silver waited a few minutes before getting up and heading back to the surface.

"Blaze, hurry up! Oh wow, it's dark now…" Silver looked up at the starry night sky, and then back at the purple cat, "I guess it makes sense, what that woman said. How else could Mephiles have done such crazy things?"

"I still think we've just gone on some sort of drug trip. That was honestly one of the weirdest things I've ever seen. How do we know it's not just a hallucination?" Blaze asked, yawning.

"Blaze, both you and I saw the exact same thing!"

"Maybe Mephiles planned it."

"Why would he tell us how to defeat him?"

"He could have told us lies."

"Then how else do you explain his abilities?"

"I don't know. Spell books, perhaps? In any case, did you notice how she didn't tell us the specific idea on how to 'defeat' him? What are we supposed to do - trap him in a crystal ball?"

"Maybe she means that we're supposed to kill him, but was too polite to say it."

"Hey, if you're planning on killing that bastard Mephiles, let me in on it. I'm dying to see his head separated from his body," a different voice said.

Silver turned around and said, "Espio, isn't it? What are you doing here?"

"Believe me, I wish I knew. Let's get back to civilization and I'll explain on the way. Oh, and another thing," Espio said, looking at the other two, "Whoever you talked to is wrong. The last thing I remember is thinking I was trapped and continually tortured in some strange place, and I almost bought it. If we don't do something quick, I believe Mephiles is gonna be strong enough to take over someone's mind…and what will we do then?"

XXXXXXXXX

"Thanks, Knux," Sonic said, blowing on the warm tea in his cup, "I already feel a lot better."

Knuckles grunted and sat down beside Sonic, purple eyes blinking sleepily. Tails was drinking a cup of tea was well, while Sonic was on his third. It was specifically designed to help someone sleep, and the blue hedgehog was seriously hoping that it would work.

"It's past three in the morning. Why do you pick such horrible times to have nightmares, Sonic?" Knuckles said, rubbing his eyes, "And why was it so bad as to have me come over?"

"Knuckles, something's not right here. Sonic's dream was with Eggman, but it bears a strange resemblance to…one of his incidences," Tails replied, glancing over at Sonic.

"What?" Knuckles asked.

"Tails is saying the way Eggman tried to fuck me in the dream is almost the same as one of the times Wario did fuck me," Sonic snapped, looking away.

"Right down to the locked door and fighting back. There were minor variations, but it was basically the same idea. Don't you think it's a little odd that the setting would be similar?" Tails asked.

"I'm too tired to think right now. Get back to me on that in the morning," Knuckles grumbled, "By the way, Silver never showed up. Or your gizmo didn't activate - take your pick."

"Silver's not here right now. He went out with Blaze and hasn't returned," Tails replied, "Maybe he didn't have time to go to you."

"Come to think of it…where did Isis go? Surely she must have heard us," Sonic said, looking up again as the phone began to ring.

"She was gone when I came downstairs. No note, no signs of a struggle, nothing - she just got up and left." Tails shrugged as he got up to answer it, "Maybe she went to find Silver."

"Whatever. She bothers me," Knuckles replied, "Seems a little weird, too."

"Nice Knuckles. You're sitting at the table with a super-sonic speed blue hedgehog and a twin-tailed fox who's a mechanical genius. As for yourself, you're bright red, spend all your time on a _floating_ island, and can shatter boulders with your fists. I think we can clearly establish that around here, there isn't a very good definition of 'normal'," Sonic grinned, leaning back in his chair. At least his usual personality was returning, including the teasing part.

"Very funny, Sonic."

"Look, I'm sure she's fine, wherever she ended up. After all, she left on her own. What I'm wondering is what the heck happened to Silver and Blaze? They should have returned ages ago."

"That was Blaze," Tails said, hanging up the phone, "She and Silver are at the hospital again. Seems though the Chaotix have had quite a scare tonight."

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

"They were attacked, and Espio was captured. But he's still confused on what exactly Mephiles wanted. It seems the whole idea was to try and convince Espio of some strange world where he had been captured and tortured for months, but Espio didn't completely buy it. Then he was simply dumped outside, basically unharmed. Not much else happened."

"Why go to the trouble of capturing someone like Espio? Wouldn't it be better to catch a random human instead of somebody who could destroy your whole base given an hour and a chance to escape?" Sonic asked.

"I guess whatever Mephiles is up to, he's looking to make sure it works on strong-minded people. Since Espio wasn't involved with Mephiles before, he wouldn't be as much on guard."

"I suppose…" Sonic looked at both of his friends and then back at his drink. "But…if he's planning on convincing people…you don't think my dream and Espio's situation are related, do you?"

Tails thought for a moment. "Could be," the fox explained, "After all, your dream and what happened to you before closely resemble each other. Maybe Mephiles caused your dream to happen somehow."

"Or maybe Knuckles did because he gave me the wonderful image of having sex with Eggman!" Sonic hissed, glaring at the echidna.

"You're the one who made me tell, hedgehog! I would have kept my mouth shut if you didn't beg to know!" Knuckles countered.

"I did not beg!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not, Knucklehead! You seriously need to get laid."

"That was uncalled for, Sonic," Knuckles growled, knowing that saying the wrong thing when speaking about that certain topic with Sonic could make things end badly. "Besides, when's the last time you rode your partner?"

"Hey, we're not that horny! We've been taking a break since Mephiles showed up."

"Well, maybe you two should start fucking again. That way I don't have to come over at three in the fucking morning to help you!"

Sonic blushed a deeper red and turned away. "You didn't have to come," Sonic whispered.

Knuckles sighed, "You know I would."

"We just want you to feel better, that's all," Tails said before another argument could start up.

"Yeah…maybe I do need to get laid as well. It does make me feel a lot better, after all…" Sonic paused, then thinking about who had been riding _him_ that night. Even though it had basically been consensual, it wasn't exactly 'clean' sex to Sonic. The last thing he wanted to do was dirty his lover's body with his own. "On second thought, maybe I'll wait for a better time. The last thing I want to do is have to go save the world in the middle of sex."

"Very nice, you two. I'm glad you're both awake enough to think with the thing between your legs instead of your heads!" Tails snapped, "Seriously, we need to get moving here. I'm almost done with the shield to block the Chaos Emeralds' energy, but we still don't have Eggman's support. Whether it's to get him on our side or get him to fuck off it doesn't matter, but we need an answer."

"Alright, alright, we're on it," Sonic sighed.

"I'm thinking," Knuckles added.

XXXXXXXXX

"He's a liar, Eggman. Regardless of what he offers you right now, he'll backstab you later on. Besides, is there a real thrill anymore if Sonic disappeared?" Rouge crossed her arms and waiting, watching as the tired doctor went over her words. She was still holding the pictures in her hands, having received them from Isis who had found her flying when she had been looking for Espio. The strange girl had said tonight would be a good night to speak to the scientist and then left with no other words. With no luck finding the chameleon, Rouge had reached Eggman and was attempting to barter with him, to some success so far.

"Mephiles has done some very interesting things so far. He also seems quite confident that he can hold onto Sonic," Eggman replied, leaning back in his chair.

"You're confident in your own plans, but who shows up to ruin you? The same guy that Mephiles thinks he can keep under control forever. Come on, there's no chance of that!"

"Still, even if Mephiles _does_ fail I lose nothing over it. Sonic has too much heart to come here and kill me."

"But what does Mephiles gain out of capturing Sonic? Nothing, except the chance to take over the world! He's planning on tricking you into believing him so he can take control under your nose. You're walking into a death trap, Eggman."

The scientist frowned, "How would you know that, Rouge? Have you been spying on him?"

The bat laughed, "You know me well. Do you know Mephiles at all? He's a complete pervert."

"What?"

"Take a look at these," Rouge said, taking a few steps forward and dropping the pictures on Eggman's lap, "Do you really want to place your trust in someone who has a whole room of these; that he draws be his own hand? Is that really the kind of madman to work with?"

Eggman almost choked when he saw the picture of Mephiles and Sonic together. That was certainly one image he could have lived his whole life without seeing.

Seeing Eggman's expression, Rouge decided to kick things up a notch and try to convince the doctor of other ideas. "You know, there were some of you and Sonic having sex together. He's probably planning on forcing Sonic to suck your dick to break him."

"What?" Eggman snapped, dropping the drawings onto the floor, "Would he be crazy enough to do that?"

"Well, why not? Mephiles is so sex driven that he uses it for almost everything. After you give him Sonic, he'll use the hedgehog for his own purposes and then finish him off with you. After all, what could possibly be worse than sleeping with your worst enemy? Sonic would crack sooner or later."

Eggman shook his head, "I'd rather have Sonic escape a thousand times before sleeping with him once to break him. Do I look like someone who gets off on that thought? At least Mephiles and Sonic are from the same species."

"You don't have to like the idea of fucking Sonic to sleep with him. Hell, Mephiles would probably prefer if you didn't. Why not get rid of all his problems with only one simple thing - sex? It's free, pleasurable and depending whether or not he decides to sell some of us it'll make a good profit."

The scientist stood up and walked over to his computer monitor. He was quiet for a minute, and then turned back, "How can I be sure you're not lying?"

"Look at those pictures. Mephiles has signed them by his own hand. He created them. He's interested in that sickening shit. He's easily capable of doing worse."

"You have no proof that Mephiles cares at all about what happens to this planet. He seems only interested in Sonic."

"For all the wrong reasons."

"True, but it'd keep Sonic away."

"Sonic isn't going to break sleeping with Mephiles. He'll just get so angry inside that he'll do anything to get away. But if both of you are forced to do something together, he'll feel confused and horrible. He can't attack you because you had nothing to do with it, yet it's you he slept with. No getting rid of the problem, unlike being with Mephiles."

"Hmm…" the doctor said, "Hmm…"

"Is it the money that you want?" Rouge said, playing another card on the table, "Is that what's keeping you from changing sides?"

"Well…a hundred grand would certainly buy a lot of supplies. World domination plots aren't exactly cheap, you know, and it can be difficult to steal some things."

"Should I even question how you manage to buy things when everybody knows you're evil?"

"Black market."

"I figured. If we paid you the same amount, would you then help us drive Mephiles away?"

Eggman leaned back to think. It was very quiet for a few minutes, and Rouge tapped her foot impatiently. The soft buzz of electronics went on all around her in the fairly dark room, lit only by the computer screens flashing different kinds of data.

"I suppose my world domination wouldn't be complete if someone took my worst enemy out of the picture," Eggman said after a while, "After all, there's no satisfaction if it's that simple."

"So, do we have a deal?"

"I will help the annoying blue rodent and friends when asked; if a couple conditions are made."

"I'm listening."

"The first one if that you give me a hundred thousand, cash. The second is that when this is all over, I get the Chaos Emeralds."

"We'll give you one."

"Five."

"Two."

"Three."

"Three it is. If you want the other four, you'll have to take them by force," Rouge finished.

"Fair game, then. You give me the cash, and then all of you are free to come in my base and leave freely until this is all over. Afterwards, we go back to being enemies again."

"Don't think about betraying us, Eggman. You know we'll stick to our word. It's Mephiles you need to watch," Rouge said, heading towards the exit.

"Don't you want these back?" Eggman asked, picking up the disturbing drawings.

"Burn them," Rouge called back.

Eggman grumbled to himself and dropped the pictures on one of the control panels. The one with Mephiles and Sonic together was on top, and Eggman was surprised by how much detail was put in. If somebody honestly spent that much time figuring out what they wanted to do with someone else…

"Freak," Eggman muttered, tearing the picture in two, "If this is what Mephiles draws, I don't want to know what he keeps in his head.

_**German Andy? What's a German Andy? I don't know. And no, I'm not insulting Germans; considering I'm half German myself that'd be incredibly stupid. **_

_**This is a short chapter, I know. But at least I updated!**_


End file.
